Dec. 1-4, 2005
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
FOOD REVIEW
Way too much coffee, even for college students
Java City’s variety of blends impressive, but underwhelming
By Jonathan McNamara
Daily Texan Staff
"How many coffee blends do you have?” I asked the barrista at Java City in the Texas Union.
“We’re serving five today,” she said.
“I’d like one of each,” I replied.
Her smile faded when she realized I was serious.
Thanks to an exclusive contract with UT, Java City and Aramark are serving up coffee at even more locations around campus. Forget walking a whole 10 yards from campus to wait in line at one of those Drag coffee shops. Now you can buy coffee with hardly any leg work. After all, nothing tastes better than convenience.
Plans for any expansion of the Java City-UT coffee empire remain a closely guarded trade secret. Responding to rumor, Aramark spokesman Henry Jackson said any plans to build a coffee kiosk in the FAC remain tentative. If it is built, it will be the grand central station of coffee consumption on campus. In less time than it takes to get to that really cool part of that Modest Mouse song, it’s possible to walk from the FAC to five coffee shops. The Union houses two, including a Java City location and The Cactus Cafe, for those who prefer staring at Towns Van Zandt concert posters while getting a caffeine recharge.
Still, I suppose another coffee outlet couldn’t hurt — especially if they serve blueberry muffins.
Jackson couldn’t say whether the FAC kiosk would be constructed or not, but he did point out that Aramark’s other recent coffee venture, Prufrock’s, has been doing very well.
With the amount of foot traffic in and around the PCL, it’s no surprise that the newest coffee establishment on campus is thriving.
According to PCL representative Joanne Hawkins, 1,397,058 people visited the PCL in the 2003-2004 school year. In September of this year alone, 153,970 people walked through its doors. Now they can all get coffee inches away from their books instead of walking down a flight of steps to buy some at Jester or the Seattle’s Best kiosk.
“A coffee shop has been a marvelous opportunity for students who might take advantage of the library to come and become familiar with where it is,” Hawkins said.
In other words, come to the library. There’s coffee here.
There are five Starbucks locations in College Station. There are 17 in Austin.
If UT must have more coffee shops, so be it. But what kind of coffee are we talking about here?
That’s how I found myself staring into five cups of coffee in Java City at the Texas Union.
Java City locations serve several blends of coffee. At UT, they often highlight the “fair trade” and “Eco Grounds” roasts. Four of them sat in front of me like poison waiting to test my will to survive.
First to greet my palette was a light roast called Guatemala Oriflama. What I hoped would be a beverage filled with a rich body, like a flamenco dancer under the Guatamalan moon, tasted instead like messy, hot water. It was however, very caffeinated. One cup down, and I could feel a slight buzz.
Next up was a decaf version of the Oriflama called Cafe Del Corzon. This was not a coffee of the heart, it was an epicurean let down. In search of salvation from my caffeinated night terrors, I turned to Utopian Blend, a medium roast. Again, I tasted something that was not quite water but far from coffee.
Then it hit me. I took sips of the first three in rapid succession, and I realized what my taste buds were desperately trying to tell me. They all tasted the same. Then again, I can’t rule out the possibility that the caffeine was taking over my brain. My foot wouldn’t stop tapping.
With two blends left, I pressed on. The Eco Grounds French Roast was a dark coffee indeed, like blackened marshmallows at a camp fire from Hell. Those familiar with Mozart’s Coffee Roaster’s El Gato Negro or Highlander Grogg will find it instantly apparent why this coffee fails where those succeed. The French Vanilla blend, my last bastion of hope, failed in the same way, only with a hint of sweetness to the utter despair I felt in my coffee-filled gut.
I couldn’t stop shaking or talking to strangers.
Five cups of coffee in no less than 10 minutes yielded one outcome: The construction of more Java City locations on campus will bolster coffee convenience and caffeine-induced laziness immensely, but there’s simply no account for taste.