Baraka's guide to the best coffee places on campus

Baraka Ahmed
author
Published on Oct. 30, 2021
Not to say that Blue Chip is the best one, but it's the best-known! File Isabella Falsetti

When I say I LOVE coffee, I mean that I *love* coffee – maybe even more than Lorelai from Gilmore Girls.

So obviously, what’s the first thing I do when I move to Vancouver? Try every single cafe on campus so that I can select the best place to throw money at for something that’s eventually going to result in my early death! And honestly, in this economy, I don’t even mind.

Back to the topic at hand: here’s my carefully curated list of cafes on campus and what I rate them based on taste of coffee, how cute the place is and whether it’s that perfect study spot you’ve been scouting for.

Bean Around the World

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['medium'] Baraka Ahmed
  • Basic cappuccino — it didn't have the ZEST! Know what I mean? The recognizable espresso flavour wasn't there. And the coffee wasn’t very hot, which I didn’t love.
  • SUPER cute space to sit indoors AND outdoors — although I wouldn’t recommend the outdoor patio in the rainy reason... unless you like being drenched.
  • It was really cozy, tucked away in a corner of the campus, which makes it quite low-key (which I love).
  • It’s not the best place to go if you’re looking for a quick coffee run — it’s kinda far if you don’t live in Orchard Commons. I prefer to go there when I'm planning to sit in one place to study for a WHILE.
  • Cute place for a study date? ;)

8/10: Cappuccino was alright, location is kinda far, but I love the cutesy vibe.

Loafe

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['medium'] Baraka Ahmed
  • Honesty loved the taste of the cappuccino.
  • Indoor sitting area is quite aesthetic.
  • Internet connection is good so you can get all your work done easily.
  • It can be crowded so it’s difficult to find a place to sit inside.
  • Outdoorsy place is nice if it’s not too cold.
  • Passes for a quick coffee run because it’s close to the Nest and the bus loop.

8.5/10: Aesthetic place with good coffee. What more could you need?

JJ Bean Coffee Roasters

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['medium'] Baraka Ahmed
  • Extremely close to the bus stop so it’s not a hassle to find.
  • The place is average, not bad-looking. There are separate tables with chairs and dividers so you can get your work done without anyone annoying you.
  • Coffee is tastes nice — it's nothing WOW but it’s not bad either.
  • I bought a cookie and I loved it. More than the hyped-up cookies from Blue Chip.

Overall: 5/10. I’d say it’s more of a place quick place to grab coffee and DEFINITELY a cookie on the side but it’s not cute or cozy enough to stay there for a while to study. Cookie was a 10/10. Okay, I’m done, I swear. I’m done raving about the cookie now.

Great Dane Coffee

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['medium'] Baraka Ahmed
  • I didn’t love the taste of the coffee to be honest, and my cup was tiny.
  • I did hear that people usually get cappuccino with vanilla here... So perhaps that’s worth a try.
  • The chocolate chip cookie was tasty, I’m not gonna lie.
  • The outdoorsy place was pretty cute honestly, I feel like it would be a really nice place to chill with friends at 5ish.
  • There isn't indoor dining right now, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Overall: 6/10 — a cute outdoorsy place, but the coffee didn’t taste great (in my opinion). Regardless, it’s a nice place to chill, but not the best place to study.

Boulevard Coffee Roasting Co.

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['medium'] Baraka Ahmed
  • Super cozy, good lighting, great decor!
  • THE COFFEE IS AMAZING!
  • This is the perfect place to study alone.
  • Music playlist 10/10 (at one point, they started playing One Direction and I think I cried a little)!
  • They’ve got a solid internet connection.
  • Home of the best cookie I’ve tried so far (I had the chocolate chip).

If I were looking for the perfect place, this would be the one.

Overall = 9/10

Blue Chip

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['large'] File Jasmine Foong
  • Honestly, I didn’t know what a good coffee tasted like until I tried the mocha at Blue Chip. When I say the flavour was rich as a sugar daddy, I’m not joking.
  • Definitely grab and go coffee but the line is LONG (understandably so), so be prepared to wait. I go to school half an hour before my classes just so I can get my hands on the grande mocha at Blue Chip to wake me up before class (though Blue Chip Express has begun to solve that problem).
  • Perfect coffee to sip on the commute home while you blast music from your earpods and pretend to be the main character of an indie movie.

Overall: In terms of coffee, 10/10. In terms of place to sit, it's whatever — unless you enjoy sitting in the Nest. I’m personally more of a cafe person, and the Nest gives me cafeteria vibes — but to each their own.

All in all

My top two would be Bean Around the World & Boulevard. Bean Around the World is pretty but Boulevard has a personality (coffee tastes good), ya feel?

If you don’t want to spend money and are looking for good coffee regardless, I’ve heard the convenience store next to the UBC bookstore sells them for $1 (as does Sprouts!). At the end of the day, even though we’re all broke college students, we still need that caffeine fix.