A lot of people in the grown-up world need coffee in order to function. As students, a lot of us are sleep deprived, addicted to, or just prefer coffee as our go-to drink. I personally prefer tea, because it is very difficult for me to be pleased with the quality of coffee. After several interviews on campus, I realized that other people may have different views.
When asked whether they prefer Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts or Java City, many students said they prefer saving their time and just buying drinks on campus, even though they are not always satisfied with the products offered.
Rodrigo Sanchez ’19 said he mostly goes to Java City because he prefers staying on campus, but that his favorite choice is Starbucks since it offers a much wider variety than Java City. Two of the respondents said they do not drink coffee on campus, but that they really like the hot chocolate offered in the caf and at Java City.
A couple of the people I interviewed said they did not drink coffee at all and preferred alternatives such as water, tea, or cranberry juice. Christian Henriquez ’19 said that he only drinks water and cranberry juice unless he is offered frozen coffee. Kayla Huber ’15 said she does not have any definitive preferences in terms of brand, but that she noticed that Java City’s coffee sometimes tastes burnt.
Another respondent, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the coffee served at all three establishments is bad coffee. If given no other choice, the respondent would prefer going to Java City instead of Starbucks because of the long walk to town.
Amalie Ausland ’19 is luckier in the sense that she has a roommate with a coffee maker, so sometimes she makes use of the roommate benefits and has some coffee. But usually she prefers tea, because the coffee in school is not very good, she said..
Honey Hsu Yamin ’16 said that before the class of 2019 came on campus, there used to be a Caribou Coffee where Dunkin’ Donuts is now. “That was my favorite place to study and grab a cup of hot chocolate,” she said.
Overall, a lot of people choose to stay on campus rather than walk to downtown Lake Forest when they’re in the mood for a cup of coffee. Even though they are not always satisfied with the quality of coffee in Java City, they choose it because it is cheaper and faster —they only spend flex dollars on it, and when they need a quick coffee fix, it is the best place to go.
What makes a coffee good for the majority of our students still remains a mystery, but now we know a bit more about their preferences.
