If you’re anything like me, it can sometimes be a struggle to stay awake when doing those weekly readings. Admittedly, it’s often because these readings are a little on the tedious side, but law school and exhaustion seem to go hand in hand. As a result, I often alleviate my lethargy with coffee. Huge amounts of coffee.
When picking a café to get your caffeine hit from, here are a few things to look out for…
1. Do they advertise their beans?
A good café will generally take pride in the coffee beans that it uses, and advertise them rather blatantly.
When you order a coffee, make a mental note of the beans used so you’ll know which type you should look out for (or avoid) for next time.
2. Do they clean their coffee machine?
Unless you’re a classy badass who only drinks long black, you’re probably going to end up consuming large amounts of milk with your coffee. If milk isn’t handled appropriately, it can produce bacteria, which can make you ill and hinder the study that you’re attempting to assist.
While you stand in line waiting for your latte, watch the barista. If they don’t purge the steaming wand (blow steam from it) immediately after steaming milk, and clean the pipe itself, then there’s a pretty good chance that they’re fairly lax about their cleaning, and that they have milk festering in their nice warm coffee machine.
3. The double-edged sword of the café chain
There’s probably a Hudsons, CIBO, McCafe or Gloria Jean’s near you. The advantage of a coffee chain is that you always know exactly what you’re getting – every café uses the same coffee and trains people in the same way, ensuring continuity in their product. If you like a coffee from one chain, chances are it’s going to taste almost the same as another.
However, this is largely achieved through the use of dark-roasted beans; this gives them a strong, espresso taste, which is fairly similar for all beans roasted this way. I’m not suggesting that this is a particularly bad thing, but it is definitely not for everyone.
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