The fact that I’m no longer in school is really starting to set in right about…now.
Not only is it Columbus Day and I had to go to work, but I’ve realized that there are certainly some things I miss about school (aside from the freedom, and overall “party” that is college.)
It very well may be that the reason I haven’t been drinking coffee these days is because I’m at a loss for a local coffee shop that I enjoy. When I lived in Champaign, I had a whole slew of local coffee shops at my fingertips. No I’m not talking about a Starbucks (though a Starbucks did move in my sophomore year). I’m talking about a real locally owned coffeehouse. I really don’t have one of those around here (Northwest suburbs), or at least I haven’t found it yet.
I would often frequent the Green Street Coffeehouse for a medium and very frothy vanilla latte on the nights I worked at the paper (they were just a couple buildings away.) The medium lattes were always on special on the days I’d come in, and they honestly made the best lattes I’ve ever had in my life. But then again, I’m a huge fan of froth, so don’t take my word for it if you’re not.
A date with the library would never be complete without my trip to the in-house Espresso Royale. I swear I became addicted to their blackberry iced teas with a lemon on the side, as well as their Chocolate Chai lattes. I massacred punch card after punch card and held on to my completed free drink reimbursables like they were gold.
And then, there was Moonstruck. I’ve recently found out the place is a chain, and there’s one in downtown Chicago, but that place was awesome. Primarily a chocolate shop, I’d go there for the mochas and the chocolate shakes - the perfect study time pick-me-ups.
They always say you should cherish your college years, but never did I realize how much I would miss the coffeehouses of my campus as much as I do. While you may think I’m strange for feeling this way, to me these coffeehouses embodied student life in Champaign. It’s no wonder a college campus has so many choices, because what’s better to study with than a little (or a lot of) caffeine?
I could try and make myself my own vanilla latte, or even my own chocolate chai. But I suppose it wouldn’t be nearly as good, and I also suppose that atmosphere might have something to do with it all.
-Hillary, looking for local recommendations so she doesn’t have to miss Champaign so much
Editor, Recipe4Living
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