By ALEXANDRA SMITH
Whether you like it with five packs of sugar and a half cup of creamer, or with nothing at all, coffee is an essential tool to college students.
It can be used for a study boost, a date, an outing with your friends, and even networking with future employers.
I went in search of the best cup of coffee around Piedmont College.
As a coffee connoisseur myself, I made three categories on which to judge each cup: proximity to campus, price and overall taste.
The first place on my list was Java Joe’s in downtown Clarkesville.
Java Joe’s is a ten-minute drive from campus, and its intimate setting makes it the perfect place to harbor relationships.
The coffee was average, but the setting really outshines the actual coffee.
The prices for coffee were less than Starbucks’, but more than the gas station coffee.
By giving it two stars for proximity, three stars for price, and four stars for overall taste, Java Joe’s received nine stars overall.
Driving back to campus, I stopped into Ingles, where our local Starbucks is located. Starbucks is seven minutes from campus.
I had the medium Pike Place Roast coffee with soy milk and Splenda. There are a few tables set up around the stand inside of Ingles.
The coffee was great, but the price was not. It was the most expensive cup of the day.
By giving it three stars for proximity, two stars for price, and five stars for overall taste, Starbucks received ten stars overall.
After all of this caffeine, I missed my turn to come back to Piedmont and decided to continue my search.
I stopped at the RaceTrac gas station in Cornelia. This time I went for the flavored coffee and got a hazelnut coffee from the dispenser.
I only paid 79 cents, and it tasted pretty good. It was no Starbucks, but it was a great value.
RaceTrac is located less than a mile from campus, making it about a minute away.
I gave the RaceTrac cup of coffee four stars on proximity, four stars on price, and three stars on taste, adding up to 11 stars for RaceTrac.
As I came back to campus, I turned on my Kureig brewer the second I walked in the door. I popped in a Starbucks K-cup and had a Starbucks coffee without ever leaving my room.
The 16-cup box costs $12, which makes each cup 75 cents. It tasted just like I was at the store, but it was in my own room.
While the Kureig Brewer is expensive, the coffee itself can save you a lot of money.
I gave it five stars on proximity, four stars on price, and four stars on taste, giving the cup an overall 13 stars.
The last place I stopped was the Dining Hall on campus.
I drank the medium roast coffee, which was a bit watery and did not have much taste.
It was convenient, but it was not a very good cup of coffee.
It is relatively free if you have the meal plan, and you can drink as much of it as you want. I gave it a four stars for proximity, five stars for price, and one star for taste, leaving the Dining Hall coffee with ten stars.
If you are a coffee connoisseur like me, or if you just like to have the occasional cup, there are plenty of ways to get your caffeine burst on and around campus.
My advice: buy Starbucks coffee and brew it in your own coffee pot. It could save you a lot of money and time.