Depending on the day, you might think you're wandering into a pumpkin spice factory - or a springtime florist shop, filled to bursting with hyacinth and lilacs. But where is the scent of freshly baked bread coming from?

Thus lies the magic behind Blue Mountain Candle Company, which offers more than 200 candle scents in its Lehighton store, located on Route 209. Every candle is hand-poured on site in the store's small pouring and assembly room, adjacent to their retail store.The candle store has been in business for 16 years and bills itself as the area's leading premium candle-making company. Each candle begins as a custom wax blend, designed and tested exclusively for Blue Mountain."There is a better quality wax that you can use, as well as higher quality fragrance oils for scent," said owner Cecilia Koerbler. "We want to know that each candle is going to burn properly, that it will burn evenly and have a nice scent."After an employee adjusts each batch of wax and scent so that it is a proper blend and at the right pouring temperature, candles are hand-poured into a jar or mold with a hand-placed cotton wick. Candles must cool and harden for at least eight hours before an employee will trim the wick, clean the candle and exterior, and examine the finished product for any air bubbles or imperfections.Candles that pass this inspection are then lidded (if in a jar), labeled, and boxed for shipment or storage.While a candle could be burned at this point, Koerbler said it's ideal to let a candle continue resting for at least one additional day, preferably longer, between a candle's cooling and its first burning. This is done to ensure a more robust, even scent.The company is capable of pouring approximately 600 24-ounce candles per day, and is set up to pour six different scents at a time. Blue Mountain Candles offers 12 different candle sizes, including jars, pillars, and traditional and cube wax melts.While Blue Mountain Candle does promote some seasonal scents, from Christmas pine and candy cane to autumn's pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice, every scent is available year-round.The business stays busy catering to both locals and tourists from nearby hotel and ski areas. They also do a steady business of wholesale and custom orders. But the bulk of their business comes from fundraisers, which allow schools, churches and other organizations to sell Blue Mountain Candles for a profit.Because the business delivers candles within a 300-mile radius, their products are distributed regularly to Wilkes-Barre, Harrisburg, the Lehigh Valley and Altoona."We're getting out there, and business is building up slowly in different areas," Koerbler said.While there have always been big-name competitors, she said that the scope of competition has definitely increased in their nearly two decades of business."When we first got into candle making, there were certainly scented candle makers out there. But it feels like it has been increasing. There are more small businesses getting into candles, as well as larger big box stores adding their own lines," she said. "As a business, you try new things. You have to think of ways to change and evolve."Blue Mountain Candle continues to pride itself on its quality and hands-on process."We hand-pour every candle. I feel with hand-pouring, we have better quality control. We know that the proper amount of scent is going into each and every candle," Koerbler said. "Each candle is looked at before they are put out for retail sale."Koerbler said she has always used a custom wax and fragrance blend, and obtains it from the same supplier to ensure a more consistent product. The result is a candle that burns neatly with less "tunneling" and waste, and no black soot from lower-quality fragrance oils."Just like anything else, like something you might bake in your kitchen, quality ingredients matter if you're looking for a quality product," she said.