First week of school first week of school!

To get into the school spirit, I am going to review a classic college coffee shop, Georgetown’s very own Midnight Mug.

Located in one of the ugliest libraries in America, the Midnight Mug is a student run coffee shop open until 2:00 AM Sunday - Wednesday, 12:00 AM on Thursday, and 6:00 PM on Friday and Saturday (during the academic year). I don't know what it is about this city, but every college campus in D.C. must have decided to build libraries in 1965 with a complete lack of funding. Take a look:

Georgetown University Library

Now they don't show that on the brochures.

American University's library isn't any better:

American University Library

And what about George Washington University:

George Washington University Library

Ick.

Although, the Library of Congress certainly makes up for what the universities' libraries lack:

Library of Congress: Exterior

Library of Congress: Interior

If those university libraries were an accurate representation of D.C. architecture I would leave this city immediately. Luckily, here in the nation's capital we are privileged to live alongside some of the world's finest architecture. Let's take a peek:

NOW BACK TO THE COFFEE!

Where were we before my architecture tangent? Oh yeah. The Midnight Mug. Located in Georgetown University's ugly library.

Midnight Mug: Exterior

Midnight Mug: Interior

As an AU alum, you might think I am being a little bias with this post, especially after praising AU's Dav last week, but I take my coffee credentials seriously. I am giving the coffee a bad review because their coffee tastes like dirt.

The coffee shop itself is fine, a few worn in couches, nice student atmosphere, an easy place to study and socialize, but there are very few times I am given a cup of coffee and actually can't drink it. When I went to the Midnight Mug to visit a friend who worked there she made me a latte and said I must try their salt bagels. So I did! The nice thing about the Midnight Mug is that they have a wide and varied selection of sandwiches, bagels, and baked goods so you can have something to get rid of that disgusting coffee taste in your mouth.

After getting my drink I sat down to study and sip. I sipped, and I spat. It was gross. Flavorless. I shouldn't say flavorless actually, it had quite a strong flavor, just not of coffee. It tasted like dirt was ground along with the coffee beans and then burnt to a crisp, brewed, and served.

I felt bad. My good friend brewed this up just for me, and I couldn't stand it. (I hope she doesn't read this post). I  gave it to another girl I was with to see if it was just me or if it was really that awful. She could barley swallow the drink. Case in point.

Little by little the two of us, giggling as girls do, poured the latte into the trash to make it look like we were enjoying it, as to not offend our friend. When the latte was "gone" we went to get iced coffees thinking they can't possibly be worse.

We were right. They were not worse, but equally as revolting.

I'm not sure what it is that makes the coffee there so terrible, by my suggestion to the incoming students is to travel a mile up the road to AU's Dav and get a real cup of coffee.

And to show a little respect for a wonderful school, they do have some exquisite architecture:

...Just not the library (which was supposed to be a modern design based on the building pictured above).

La la laaa... latte!

This latte is SCRUM-DIDDILY-UMTIOUS!

R.I.P. Southern Pecan

Original to the District, Firehook is a bakery and coffee house also serving up sandwiches and light fare. (No, I am not being paid to write this, though if anyone would like to change that – please, by all means!)

Firehook has locations around the city including Metro Center, DuPont, Judiciary Square, Cleveland Park, Capitol Hill, and Farragut Square (I may be missing a few). Everything is freshly made, the breads are baked locally in Alexandria, and the prices are extremely reasonable for quality products. They have it all. Cookies. Cakes. Salads. Pastas. Soups. Hummus. Scones. Muffins. Brownies. Sandwiches. Did I already say cookies? (They are the size of your face and delicious to no end!) And of course, COFFEE.

This morning I was playing hooky from work (which is appropriated since the slogan of coffee house is “hooked”) (and okay, I was actually just going to the dentist) and decided to stop by the Farragut Square location since I was in the area. The Firehook at Farragut Square is my favorite because they display all the breads so nicely on shelves and have cute tables to sit at in the back. I wouldn’t call this a fancy coffee house by any means. It’s simple. And that’s what I like about it.

I walked in, went up to the counter, and ordered a southern pecan iced coffee, YUM! Unfortunately, the lady quickly told me that they didn’t have southern pecan and that the company stopped purchasing it. (I’m not sure if they just stopped purchasing it because we are headed into a new season or if they have done away with the southern pecan altogether.) Those damn Yanks takin’ away our southern coffee obsession. (Disclaimer: I'm from Massachusetts.)

What I like most about Firehook's flavored coffees is that the coffee beans are roasted with pecans to attain the desired flavor. The favor is much truer when the beans are prepared this way compared to just adding a syrup later on – yuck. My suggestion: if you’re going to order a flavored coffee make sure the flavor is brewed in, otherwise it is more caloric and just plain tastes fake.

With my southern pecan somewhere far below the Mason-Dixon line, I went to my usual Firehook choice: iced latte with whole milk.

Yes, whole milk, and don’t even think about giving me skim. (I would get 2% but Firehook only has whole or skim.) Once I was given skim latte at Firehook instead and I asked if he thought I needed to drink fat free milk and replied, “Aww naww! You fine just the way you are. My bad, girl. Let me get you your whooooole milk.” That's right.

Whole milk is not bad. If you get a whole milk latte everyday, alright you might gain a little weight here and there but let's be real, DC guys like a big booty, which I sadly do not carry.

Seriously though. What throws everyone off is that they think almost the entire cup is filled with fatty whole milk and fail to realize that the espresso actually takes up much more room than you think. Two shots of espresso over ice fills up the cup almost all the way, which is why I suggest adding a richer milk for a creamy flavor that is much more satisfying.

I wouldn’t get a whole milk latte every day but it's certainly a nice treat!

Ridiculous Mugs

There is one thing that has been aggravating me lately and it's this ridiculous mustache fad.

WHY!?

I am into funny things, and things a little bit out of the ordinary, but when I walked into Whole Foods the other day and saw a kid with a mustache on his arm, I almost had a fit right there in the store. I. DON'T. GET. IT. And if you do, please explain it to me, (preferably over a cup of coffee, as always).

I have seen mustaches for your car. Mustaches for your dog. Mustaches for your bike. I have seen mustaches on men and women alike (I can't ignore a good rhyme).

The only mustache inspired object I have seen that makes sense to me is the mustache mug:

And that's because it makes sense! It is actually funny. You go to take a sip of your coffee and... tee-hee! Look! You have a mustache! 

This (below), on the other hand, doesn't make any sense, and more than that, is really, really lame:

Nobody cares if your car has facial hair.

That isn't to say that everything has its place and its place is where it should stay. I am not trying to be Vernon Dursley... nerd moment. But it must be done tastefully, artfully, and have some sort of meaning and significance. A hot pink mustache on your car is just pretentious. 

If you know me at all you know I have a soft spot in my heart for dadaist art. During World War I in Zurich, Switzerland a little man named Hugo Ball (my idol) started an artistic revolution. He stood up on stage at this little cafe and read a poem. The poem was entirely nonsensical, full of made-up words, and he wore an outfit that perfectly complemented this. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you Hugo Ball:

Along with a photo of the original poem:

He later created the Dadaist Manifesto which would give dadaism a place in history for all of time.

What is dada exactly? Let me give you a brief rundown. Dada is supposed to mock the meaninglessness of the modern world, war, and human falsities. It undermines and diminishes bourgeois society for its arbitrary normalities.

Inspired by this theory, I wanted to show you some coffee mugs that are cleverly designed. Not quite dada, but it wouldn't stretch to say dada-esque, at least more-so then those ridiculous mustaches popping up everywhere. 

Starbucks should upgrade to these.

It's a D.C. thing.

Probably a little inappropriate to put this right under Lincoln...

Is that a tea cup or a coffee mug?

(Note: They call this the "Semiotics Mug". I LOVE IT. May have a crush on whoever named that.) 

This mug is really up for an adventure.

"I'm not a paper cup!"

"Me neither."

"I am! ... Just kidding."

(I have this one! It's my favorite.)

Sweet Tooth Saturday

It’s time to talk about my alma mater: American University.

Yesterday, I was feeling a little nostalgic and in need of something sweet and, as always, preferably caffeinated, so a few of my girlfriends and I decided to meet at the old campus hot spot, Davenport Coffee Lounge. For all those who go, have gone, or will go to American University this campus coffee shop is known as the “Dav”. The Dav is a student run, not for profit, fair trade coffee lounge that has a few of its own special brews. This post focuses on one very special, very sweet drink that is known as a Vietnamese iced coffee. 

But before I go there, let me lay out the scene.

A little bit over a year ago this classic college coffee shop changed locations on campus. A new building for the School of International Services (SIS) was built and the old SIS, which was home to the original Dav, became faculty offices. Students were outraged. And many of them still are, alumni included. And this is why, (que visuals).

THE OLD DAV: Scholarly, quaint, inspired, uniquely AU.

THE NEW DAV: Is that a Starbucks on campus?

When the coffee lounge switched locations its worn in charm was left behind. There were are no more old books and broken chess sets on cracked marble tables. Instead, there are new tables and shinny floors and cabinets and bookshelves devoid of any books. It looks just like a corporate coffee shop, except worse because you knew what it used to be. A few of the old maps and yearbooks stuck around, but it is no longer that inspirational place you go to at 11:00 AM on Saturday mornings after a night out in Adams Morgan to sip a coffee and immerse yourself in whatever political propaganda you may be studying that day, letting inspiration take over.

But let me give the students of AU a little bit of credit here. We are no state school, we are not into our sports team, but we love the scholarly, artsy, and excepting AU culture. Every time I go back to the new Dav I find that it is slowly taking on it's old character, bit by bit.

Onto the coffee. In order for me to tell you about the Dav's Vietnamese iced coffee it is quintessential that I start with the first time I ordered it. I was standing in line at the old Dav my freshman year of college, about to get my usual regular iced coffee and sit down for a day of reading Plato and Nietzsche, when the person in front of me ordered a Vietnamese iced coffee. Excited to try something different, sure to be a new twist on an old drink, nothing too crazy, I ordered one too. I took my books and coffee, sat down at my usual spot (marble table on the right, chair on the right) opened my books and laptop and took a sip. It was so sweet! But deliciously sweet! Like a milkshake, but better! It wasn't a sugary sweet, more of a creamy sweet. As hard as I tried to make it last and savor the flavor, I finished the whole thing in about two minutes, which would have been fine if it hadn't contained three shots of very strong espresso.

Ingredients:

3 shots of espresso topped with condensed milk. Simple. Sweet. Highly caloric. So if you want to maintain those figures ladies, do not indulge in these every day. I made it a once a semester type of thing.

You can already foresee what happened next. As I was typing my paper on my laptop my hands started flailing OUT OF CONTROL. I was definitely not used to that much caffeine, never mind that fast! And combined with the sugary condensed milk, deadly. (But delicious!)

VIETNAMESE ICED COFFEE.

VERY SWEET.

VERY CAFFEINATED.

It disguises itself. Looks like a regular iced coffee, heavy on the cream, but tastes entirely different. The best way to describe its flavor is as if coffee ice cream melted into a cup of ice, but not quite as thick. 

I could make this post last forever and go on and on about all the stories that have happened in the Dav, but I'll save those for me. And if you want to know all the funny, embarrassing, and inspirational stories, call me up for a cup of coffee anytime, I always love a good chat. Just don't let me order a Vietnamese, or I will be talking to you at the speed of light.

NOTE: Below is a painting of the Dav I started early on in college and never finished. Figure there is no better place for it to make its unfinished debut.

NPR: National Public (coffee) Rings

In my typical morning style, cup of coffee in hand, I sat down at my desk and tabbed through my usual news sources for the day. Like any good D.C. Democrat, I started with Politico for my politics fix, then went to Gawker for a little gossip, Washington Post to see what's going down in my city, and finally, my personal favorite, NPR, (which I leave for last because I can listen to the articles). Much to my liking, on today's "All Things Considered" there was an article/newscast on the physics of coffee rings and I immediately though, BLOG!

I'm kind of a sucker for how things work. Science and math have intrigued me from a young age and although I could no longer tell you the formula for the quadratic equation, I still think knowing the itty bitty molecular details of seemingly uninteresting, unimportant things is exciting a great information to store in the back of the brain when you're searching for some coffee table talk. And with no further ado, I present to you...

COFFEE RINGS.

No, not that type, (although I want I want I want!!). 

This type:

I am going to give the brief Samantha Coffee 101 version of the physics behind the coffee ring. I will also post a link at the end of the blog post to the NPR article (video and radio newscast included) reporting the story. Here we go.

When you put a cup of coffee on a table or a napkin, and you have a little spill...

and you leave the spill there to dry you will find that the coffee drys not as one uniformed stain, but with dark, outlined edges. Scientists have discovered that this because coffee is made up of tiny little round particles. Other liquids are made up of elongated ellipsoid particles and when those liquids spill and evaporate the stain drys not like a coffee stain, but as a uniformed blob without any thick, dark edges.

Simple stuff, yet it took physicists and chemists over a decade to figure out. Good thing because what would coffee artists do without the classic dark-edged stain to use in their work:

Click HERE to view the NPR article.