To Drink Coffee or Not to Drink Coffee? That is the Question

Like many of you, I took too many credit hours, am overinvolved and barely get enough sleep during the week. My coping mechanism? Huge quantities of coffee, which is not always a healty habit. With Cafe Bibliotech open till 11 pm in Alden weekdays and The Donkey open extremely late during exam week, local coffeeshops help to fuel the trend of college students using caffeine to get through their weeks, all-nighters and exams.
"I usually drink a pot of coffee a day between my mornings and evenings, and then two Diet Cokes throughout the day. I couldn't function in the mornings without caffeine," said Kait Barnes, a frequent visitor to The Donkey and junior journalism major.
However, drinking too much coffee can be harmful to our health. According to a recent study done by Harvad Medical School, the study contends that drinking small to moderat amounts of coffee is not harmful to health and can actually be beneficial in some ways. The study claims that moderate amounts of coffee can help to prevent Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease and that caffeiene helps to improve cognitive functions and sleep deprivation, and says 16 oz a day is a healthy amount. For more information on this article, click this link https://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/coffee_health_risk.htm.
We know too much coffee is unhealthy for us. Emily Hubbell, a junior student, drinks a large coffee on a good day, and on a bad, day, she consumes up to 3 of them to help her survive on 4 hours of sleep after working 2 jobs and taking 2o credit hours.
"I know that amount of coffee is harmful for me, but I can't help it. I need that amount of coffee to get me through my days," she said.
According to an article at Suite101. com, coffee has a dark side and plenty of negatives lurking to counter-act the positive. The article states that too much coffee can lead to acid imbalance, osteoperosis, weight gain, increased cholesteral and possible addiction. For more information, visit this site, http://food-facts.suite101.com/article.cfm/adverse_effects_of_coffee_drinking.
So, the next time you want that large coffee after an all-nighter or are on your fifth cup for the day, take a step back and consider the health risks. Maybe downgrade to a medium coffee and not go for the fifth cup. Your health will reward you in the end.

Oh The Variety of Coffees

As I sit here in a local Athens coffeeshop, I am reminded yet again of how much I love coffee!!!! Of course, there are so many different kinds of coffee available to us and some days I find it so hard to simply make a decision. There's a plain black coffee, a coffee with cream and sugar, the sweet complexities of Starbucks such as a caramel macchiato or a vanilla bean frappucino, and here in Athens the Frescante drink at The Donkey seems to be quite a hit.
Different types of coffees depend on different personalities, and coffee trends do tend to play into stereotypes. There's the stereotype of the high-paid executive only frequenting Starbucks and ordering the standard "non-fat venti latte" or the artsy-fartsy type haunting the quaint little coffee shop with a black coffee or a strong pot of tea.
Sometimes stereotypes play into simple appearances. Nathan Hayes, the General Manager at Perk's Coffee here in Athens confirms that selections are a lot like the customers themselves, even if the selections are not of coffee. Eveyone has their favorite release.

"It's funny how drinks are like the customers. The old ladies always want tea, the sorority girls love the fruit smoothies and gay guys like me just want a good cappuccino," Hayes said.

Eloquently put. But what if you could be a coffee flavor? Ever wonder what you would be? I discovered a fun quiz that tells you what flavor you would be judging on personality characteristics here at http://www.iamnext.com/fun/coffeequiz.html. With only 15 questions, it's a fun little judge on personalities. You simply answer the questions, and then add up your points depending on the point value given to the letter. There are 5 results, and each result has a paragraph describing your "coffee personality." I ended up with a total of 43 points, and that made me a "Caramel Macchiato" and some characteristics associated with that include "complexity, and a sense of being smooth and laid-back at the same time." Hmmm.....somewhat accurate in my opinion.
Of course, this quiz is not scientific or official, but it is certainly interesting. Take a break from your busy day and check out this insightful quiz and discover your personality coffee flavor! Feel free to post a comment on my blog on how accurate or not accurate the quiz turns out for you.

Bean by Bean: A Feature on an Athens Barista

The young barista, in her black polo shirt and green cap, carefully pours the frothed milk into the awaiting expresso mix, and then adds sticky-sweet caramel syrup to create a caramel latte. A plastic lid is placed on the cup and she hands the frothy beverage to an awaiting customer.

"Here you go," she says with a smile, and the customer returns a grateful smile, pays for the drink and walks back out into Alden Library. Another latte served, and well, that is "a latte" of happiness that occurs in Cafe Bibliotech, the coffee mecca of Alden Library.

The young barista's name is Jennifer Kelly, a junior social work major from Ohio University and a student manager at the Cafe. This is Kelly's second year being employed at the Cafe. As a student manager and a coffee barista, she is constantly expected to make the beverages that Cafe Bibliotech provides. It offers a bevy of hot drinks, such as tea, coffee and lattes, cold drinks, such as iced coffees, iced lattes, Italian sodas and a wealth of specialty drinks, such as seasonal mochas/ lattes, fruit smoothies and flavored ice mixers. This may seem like plenty of drinks to remember, not to mention the how-to-make-drink aspect and any customer's specialty request, but to a seasoned barista, like Kelly, all the drinks are a cinch.

"I remember when I first started working here, it was all so confusing because there are so many to remember. But once you have it all down, being a barista is pretty easy and it's simple to adapt to a customer's wishes," Kelly said.

Her favorite one to create is an iced mocha. Cafe Bibliotech is a quaint little area, consisting of a small rectangular space behind a counter that houses the cafe workers, a bevy of mixer machines, expresso machines, coffee pots, soup pots, a bagel toaster cash registers. Mod yellow light fixtures hang around the Cafe, and booths and a study counter surround the outside area. Music and chatter from the baristas can usually be heard from the Cafe, along with the clinking of spoons on glass, the whir of the expresso machine and even the grinding of the coffee beans as well. With a Cafe, there is always sound.

Depending on the day and her schedule, Kelly can be found at the cafe making coffee and ensuring the shift goes smoothly. Her responsibilities include serving and making coffee, running the machines, delegating employee tasks (such as taking out the trash), counting money/ procuring the safe at the end of the night, and lastly but not least, keeping the Cafe stocked with coffee and food supplies. Most times, the Cafe stays pretty well stocked.

"On occasions we run out of supplies and have to get more supplies from the Baker Front Room," Kelly said.

Aside from her duties, Kelly interacts with her co-workers and coffee-loving customers on a daily basis. She says her favorite part of working at the Cafe is "my co-workers" because she likes to talk and hang-out with them while working. Of course, interacting with the customers is simply a part of her job but also a service aspect. She enjoys customers who tell her exactly what they want, whom are talkative and especially ones whom smile back at her and wish her a wonderful day and who display a happiness for their coffee.

However, sometimes customers are not ideal, and Kelly must learn to adapt to the situation. She has tips stored away for this.

" Even if their drink is right, and they come back to you and say it is wrong, you remake it to please them. It's easiest to act nice no matter what, don't take it personally and find out exactly what the customer wants," Kelly said.

Another customer comes to the counter, and the whir of the expresso machine and the mixing of the coffee beans make a cacophony of noise behind Kelly as she leans forward to take the customers order.

Before she turns to make the drink, she says,"I love coffee and think I want my own coffee maker at home," Kelly says with a smile. I guess you can't take the coffee lover out of a barista, and Kelly continues to make her next drink; a dark and sugary iced mocha.

How-- To --Moment*** Iced- Mocha

Need:

--Ice--Mocha syrup--Expresso--Cold milk

Directions: Mix in a metal cup. Fill 1/2 of cup with ice. Use 1 shot of expresso. Add cold milk on top of ice. Add 1 pump of mocha syrup. Mix well. Pour drink into another cup, and you've got yourself a delicious iced mocha!

Fun video on how to make an Iced Mocha for you beginners. Try this one at home!

http://revver.com/video/358351/make-an-iced-mocha-latte-demo-flavia-coffee-single-cup-gourmet-coffee/

Other fun barista profiles and a Wiki on how-to-be a more effective barista out there for all the baristas:

http://bewleysbaristas.wordpress.com/2006/10/13/barista-profile-rachael-coss/

http://www.wikihow.com/Become-an-Effective-Barista

A Little Background Info on a Coffee Nerd

Background

Hello fellow coffee lovers! My name is Erica Blocher and I am a junior at Ohio University studying high school English education and magazine journalism. This blog about coffee and how it infiltrates our lives is an assignment for one of my journalism classes. After a few false starts, this seems to be working out great and I am enjoying developing this blog. Like any English and coffee nerd, I love all things coffee and on any given day can be found squirrled away in a quaint little coffeeshop. When I'm home back in Canton, I am a frequent visitor to Starbucks and a little coffee place called Muggswiggz, which is similar to The Donkey. Here in Athens, I love to hang around the plethora of coffeeshops in Athens such as the The Donkey and the Front Room. Enjoy!

Mission

My goal is to provide fun and innovative perspectives into the coffee world and how it affects our lives. I plan on doing a feature on a barista here in Athens, along with Athens coffeehouse profiles and a look into the organic coffee following. I plan on doing polls, looking at the pros and cons of coffee drinking, American coffee trends and how to find other ways to incorporate fun quizzes and links into my blog posts.

Revision and Photo Policy

I do link to other sites from time to time, but I am not responsible for the other sites' views and posts although I do attempt to make sure that the blogs and websites are professional and appropriate. If I do need to add a revision or fix a post, the wrong part will be crossed out with a line and revision will be posted. 

**All photos taken by me, Erica Blocher**

Feel free to leave me a comment and correct me or let me know your opinion in general! Thanks!