Colgate University students drink a lot of coffee. According to American Dining Creations, 92 percent of college students drink coffee regularly.
Why do students drink so much of it? What are students’ coffee habits on Colgate’s campus?
Coffee has two primary effects: the first is it prevents fatigue and the second is it enhances brain function. Coffee helps fight drowsiness because caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, a substance which naturally makes the body tired, preventing the onset of fatigue. Caffeine has a secondary impact on dopamine levels, which can lead to experience mood enhancements and increased short term memory.
Colgate students, like juniors Caroline Goldie and Madison Elias, are known to be particularly avid coffee drinkers.
“We love coffee!” Goldie and Elias said in unison.
The two students are regular coffee drinkers. Goldie has four to five cups a day, and Elias drinks roughly one per day.
“We have such different ways that we drink our coffee, but we bond over the fact we love coffee, right?” Goldie said.
“It can be a source of fuel, happiness and connection,” Elias said.
Goldie and Elias drink the beverage for different reasons.
“[Elias does] it for appreciation. I do it for fuel,” Goldie said.
Goldie shared that she always wakes up with a cup of coffee.
“I straight up get horrendous headaches if I don’t have coffee within an hour of waking up,” Goldie said while acknowledging her dependency on the delectable.
Goldie has her last cup of the day at 1 or 2 p.m.
“I try not to drink [coffee] later […], because then I […] literally won’t sleep,” Goldie said.
This reflects coffee’s ability to remain in your system for 10 hours after consumption. Caffeine’s half life is about five hours, which means it takes that amount to metabolize half of the caffeine.
Senior Campbell Mecke has about eight caffeinated drinks a week, four of which are typically coffee.
“I started drinking coffee […] the year before college,” Mecke said. “I started an internship […] and I had to wake up around 5:30 to 6 a.m. every morning, so I started drinking just black hot coffee. Then, it was more of a necessity.”
Mecke’s coffee habits vary depending on whether she will need a bit more energy throughout the day.
“It’s usually a mid-afternoon slump sort of situation. So it’s, like, two or three if I have […] a longer night ahead of me,” Mecke said.
Elias spoke about how good coffee is important to her, and provided a number of solutions for what she calls “good” coffee.
“If my coffee is not good in the morning, or it doesn’t taste the way I want it to, it’s not that I’m going to have a bad day, but it’s that, like, I’m starting off my day with a bad morning,” Elias said. “And it’s a little thing, but I think it’s something that I look forward to every morning.”
Students can find a plethora of coffee solutions around Colgate’s campus and Hamilton, N.Y. When it comes to on-campus solutions, Goldie, Elias and Mecke are big fans of the coffee bar in Frank Dining Hall coffee bar, when it is open, and the options at the O’Connor Campus Center (Coop). Most on-campus venues serve coffee brewed by Utica Coffee Roasting Co.
“I’d say I appreciate good coffee. To me, the Coop and Frank stuff, that’s Utica Coffee. It’s actually great coffee, but it’s fine if it’s watery, absolutely not if it’s from a powder,” Goldie said. “I’m good with Folgers, that’s what I drink at home. It’s one of the cheap ones, but it’s strong.”
“I’d say [good coffee on campus is] pretty convenient,” Mecke added. “When I lived up the hill, obviously there was Frank and Coop. And then, living down the hill, Dunkin’ is super easy. If I’m feeling a little more fancy, I can go to Fojo [Beans] in town. And then also there’s the Fojo [stand] in the Coop sometimes, which is great.”
“I’m always willing to pay for a La Colombe with meal plan dollars,” Mecke said, referencing La Colombe, a canned coffee solution sold on campus at Chobani at Hieber Café.
The only two meal plan coffee solutions Mecke mentioned are the coffee stations in Frank and Coop; other options, such as the Fojo pop-up stand, which is stationed in the Coop on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., are paid solutions. However, students noted that ’Gate Cash from Colgate meal plans can buy from Fojo and Flour & Salt in Hamilton.
Beside the Keurig coffee machine Goldie brought with her, she said her favorite coffee spot is Flour & Salt, which Elias seconded. Elias also looks forward to her Friday Dunkin’ runs. For on-campus coffee solutions, Goldie recommends Frank’s coffee bar as the best free option, ranking it an eight out of ten.
