Coffee.
I live and breathe for a good cup of coffee.
I know the best place and cheapest places to get coffee on campus, and I have a 22-oz. refillable travel mug that is so tall, I have to lift the carafes in Waddick's onto the counter in order to fit my mug under the spout.
Most of my Flex Points are spent on plain black coffee.
I am such a coffee snob that my history with coffee makers on campus (like my history with Meijer goldfish) is long and complex.
My freshman year, I had a Keurig single-cup coffee maker that woke up my roommate at 8 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but ensured I was wide awake for my 8:30 a.m. Italian class.
The glorious Keurig machine produced at least four cups of coffee per day, dramatically shortening its lifespan.
Notre Dame's hard-as-nails water left a white film in the water reservoir, eventually clogging the brewing system.
My supply of Extra Bold Fair Trade French roast single serving pod coffee was cut off.
This was a blessing in disguise, since although the Keurig made fantastic coffee, it only made 6 oz. at a time — not nearly enough to sustain my six-cups-per-day habit.
Enter the French press, purchased at Starbucks in LaFortune for 25 well-invested Flex Points.
"One cup" in the French press is equivalent to five cups in the Keurig. On bad days, I drink two presses of coffee, plus Huddle or Reckers coffee on the way to class and Waddick's when my terrorism class ends early.
The crown jewel of my college coffee saga was a freshly-roasted Brazilian/Kona blend shipped by my father, who appreciates good coffee even more than I do.
These coffee beans arrived during midterms week, packaged in a Ziploc bag and so potent that the cardboard box they were shipped in smelled like coffee.
I ate a few beans straight from the bag, and enjoyed the best coffee of my life for the next month.
The saddest day this semester was the morning I brewed the last of my Kona coffee.
Pumpkin Spice Green Mountain coffee from Waddicks is great, but can never compare to the taste of Kona coffee brewed in a dorm room at 9 o'clock in the morning.
Writing this column has made me realize exactly how much coffee I consume, but I'm not worried about stunting my growth, staining my teeth or messing up my heart rate.
What I really want right now is a good cup of coffee.
