Alissa Les
“When I hear the word ‘coffee,’ first thing that comes to my mind is Timmy’s (Tim Hortons),” laughs first-year student Alissa Les. The future teacher enjoys her mug properly chilled. “I drink frappuccinos, but not regular coffee that much,” she said. Still, once in awhile she succumbs to the steaming cousin of the frapps. “Its pretty rare though,” Alissa said. For that reason she does not see herself as part of the coffee culture usually connected with the life of university students. With all the exams yet to come, however, she’s heard that there is no way making it through without some help from the drinkable gold. “I think that my consumption will definitely go up if there are assignments and I am not getting enough sleep; I will reach for coffee,” she said. Except for that, Alissa does not see brown liquid as part of relax time. Considering her favourite brand, she said, “I usually go to Tim Horton’s, because it’s cheaper, but generally I prefer Starbucks.” In terms of coffee and culture, Alissa believes that our growing obsession with steaming mug is connected to way we tend to socially interact with others. “Usually when you want to meet up with someone you use the ‘Let’s go for coffee’ phrase, even though you might not end up having coffee at all,” she said. “It became a common phrase in culture.”
Jacob Curren
First-year arts student Jacob sees coffee as energy, “Like a shot of strong espresso.” He doesn’t consider himself a heavy coffee drinker, but says that he’ll “still go it get sometimes as there are two coffee shops on campus. It’s easy access.” Other than that he adores Starbucks. “I enjoy the variety they offer. There’s a lot of different options for everything,” he said. Being in his first semester of university, Jacob can’t tell if his coffee consumption will go through the roof or not. “But since starting university I already definitely drink more coffee than during summer,” he explained. On topic if our culture is becoming more addicted to coffee not just as a drink, but an actual gadget he answered: “I think we are for sure becoming more addicted to coffee as a whole, the drink itself and the brand. More so, some people are pretentious about it.” Jacob’s overall opinion of coffee is that “It will make you stay awake and pass.”
Mady Fung
When UFV student Mady hears the word coffee, her immediate thought is: “I want some, I love coffee.” She considers herself part of the “Coffee Cult.” “I am like one of those people who need their cup to even start the day,” she said. When it comes to brand, Mady is not too picky, but is not a Tim Horton’s fan. “Any sort of local coffee shop is what I am really into,” she said. “All the ones that are in Abbotsford are amazing.” Though supporting small coffee businesses, she fancies a steaming cup of Starbucks every once in awhile. Being a self-confessed coffee fan, Mady’s consumption surprisingly doesn’t skyrocket during the exam weeks. “I actually tend to drink less coffee when I am not focused,” she explained. “I know it’s weird, because most people drink it more when they get stressed. I just switch to water and it helps me think quicker.” The main reason being that coffee is more a thing of enjoyment for her than energy booster, Mady noted: “I think that’s why a lot of people are starting to talk about coffee as an actual drug.” Thanks to this new trend, Mady goes on non-coffee detox every few months. “I don’t wanna end up fully addicted to it,” she said. With all that said, her description of inky Elixir of Life is: “Hug in a mug.”
Rhys Cornell
To exchange student Rhys, coffee represents something opposite than to most of us. He sees it as a time to relax. “For me personally, considering how my mother is a big coffee drinker, she usually drinks it to calm down as my household was very stressful. So for me coffee is like people assume tea,” he explained. Despite all that, the U.K. native drinks it occasionally. Saying that “My household is very health oriented, so for that reason I try to limit it, but if I drink coffee it’s usually during evening time while doing an assignment or something really not interesting.” When asked about his favourite brand Rhys replied: “In England there is a rival chain to Starbucks called Costa. So I always go there.” This led to the question if Costa is perceived as Starbucks in culture terms. “It depends on what part of the U.K. you are in,” he said. “We have a lot of independent cafes, but Costa is definitely biggest in the U.K. and so it’s sort of a brand for the British culture.” His conclusion on coffee culture is: “Consume something up until the point that it starts to consume you.”
Melissa Koyanagi
For home student Melissa coffee means “Sitting at home in the middle of the night studying and coffee is a warm substance keeping me alive.” Despite that, she hardly ever drinks coffee. “I don’t really have a go-to place, but I won’t go to Tim Hortons,” she said. “I usually get coffee from Starbucks, because I tend to study there.” If she would have to pick, however, her favourite is Blacksmith Bakery in Fort Langley, because “They sell coffee from Republica Roastery and their croissants are to die for.” Being a non-coffee drinker, Melissa’s consumption still spikes during exam weeks. “I tend to drink more coffee when heavy assignments are due, even then I am still not drinking that much,” she said. Regarding coffee culture, Melissa thinks that “People drink more coffee than they should. But just culturally speaking, across Canada, we still don’t drink nearly as much coffee as some other countries. For instance, my mom’s Finnish and my relatives drink a lot of coffee.” No surprise, as Finland has the biggest coffee consumption per person in the world. In her opinion, coffee drinking became more like a status symbol. “You know it matters where you get your coffee, how much you know your coffee, how pretentious you are with your coffee. It became a thing like wine and winespeak,” Melissa explained. Despite all that (or maybe because of it) her coffee punchline is: “Coffee is life.”
Holden Milne
Holden sees his cup of black liquid as “reliant, keeping [him] through the miserable existence [he] is currently living.” His favourite go-to place when urge rings is a roastery in Fort Langley called Republica Coffee. “The flavours they develop are the most pretentious thing, and it’s so good,” he said. Another favourite coffee shop of Holden’s is a small place on Mayfair and McCallum Road in Abbotsford called The Polly Fox because “They have lots of vegan goods and the owner of it lived in Paris for a while (so coffee there is really good).” Holding onto his mug of ink black drink a bit too much, Holden also recalls a serious overdose: “It happened when I was around 14-15. I chugged two big cans of Monster Energy right after I had a lots of coffee, which forced me into the overdose. Its symptoms are essentially the same as overdosing on cocaine,” he explained. When asked about coffee culture and popularity of coffee brands, Holden said that “It’s an interesting shift because on one hand we have more people drinking coffee. It’s more common and you can’t really go anywhere without finding some place to get coffee. But on the other hand people have stopped caring. It’s a lot less of the niche market now. It’s not about quality or the background of it anymore.”
