By Camille Storch

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Lorelai Gilmore once said: “I can’t stop drinking the coffee, I stop drinking coffee, I stop doing the standing, and the walking, and the words-putting-into-sentences doing.” For many high school students, coffee is a necessity to make it through the school week. Whether it’s the rush of sugar that comes in the form of caramel swirl at Dunkin, or the bitter taste of black cold brew at Starbucks, the boost of caffeine each morning has become a regular staple of many students’ routines. 

While many students might not drink as much coffee as in the once hit TV show, “Gilmore Girls,” (Lorelai drinks at least six cups of black coffee per day), they have become hooked and have developed personal preferences for how they take their coffee each morning. Non-dairy milk has been around for a long time, with almond milk becoming increasingly popular in the early 2000s, but it has since become a popular trend and preference for many coffee consumers, even if they’re not allergic to dairy. That being said, a splash of almond milk or oat milk in a student’s morning coffee was the most popular response to how they take their coffee. The almond milk comes in various flavors, with leading brand AlmondBreeze carrying staples such as Original, Vanilla, Chocolate, Coconut, and Cashew. Other brands carry more intricate flavors such as Califia Farms, a Californian brand that carries flavors such as Toasted Almond, Toasted Oat, Maple Caramel, Pumpkin Spice, and more. Who wouldn’t be interested in a Maple Caramel milk?

Oat milk has also been on the rise in popularity, as a more eco-friendly alternative to almond milk. Did you know that it takes 960 gallons of water to make one gallon of almond milk? Almond milk definitely has a larger water footprint than oat milk, which uses enzymes to break down the oat and then strain out the insoluble fibers. Neat, right?

The classic addition of cream and sugar was another popular response on what to add to coffee, or as we New Englanders call it, a “regular” coffee. AHS sophomore Davina Hallak recommended ordering an iced white mocha with sweet cream foam, an example of a more intricate, yet delicious drink. A recent trend on popular social media app, TikTok, has been to order extremely intricate and complicated drinks from Starbucks or Dunkin that have 10 million ingredients in them and then do a live taste test. Two examples of these complex orders include an iced cinnamon dolce latte made upside down with coconut milk, and an iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso with light ice, two pumps sugar free vanilla, and sweet cream cold foam. I might be out of the loop, but since when were drinks made upside down? What is the difference between shaken espresso and a basic shot of espresso?

The common debate between Dunkin and Starbucks has been a long-standing competition, but Andover has a couple other local cafes that offer coffee that easily competes with both of the two big chains. Here are my reviews and recommendations:

Dunkin

Dunkin, or Dunks as I call it, was founded here in Massachusetts, with the original store located in Quincy. Known for their donuts and coffee, Dunkin is a good option for sweet and cheap coffee. At a price standpoint, a medium iced coffee is $2.49 and a medium hot coffee is $1.89, significantly cheaper than other local competitors. They offer two different types of flavoring, swirls and shots. Swirls are more creamy and sweet, made by condensed sweet milk, while the shots are unsweetened and sugar free. The original blend is mediocre in my opinion, not super strong, and hard to taste especially when you add in a cream/milk and/or a flavor, yet the Dunkin dark roast has risen on my favorite list. It’s strong enough where you can taste the coffee flavor, but not too bitter. 

Price: $

My recommendation: Medium iced dark roast w/ pumpkin swirl and a splash of almond milk

Starbucks

Ahh, Starbucks, the classic. Starbucks has many quality drinks to choose from, ranging from various blends of coffee to their popular refreshers. In my opinion, the strength and overall quality of Starbucks coffee is quite elevated in comparison to Dunkin, yet for high school students, quality might not reign over sugar and price. In a survey of 114 people, 60 percent voted for Dunkin over Starbucks, a clear difference (22 people) in preference. For hot coffee, you can’t go wrong with the Pike Place blend, a nice, smooth dark roast. Starbucks also offers both cold brew and nitro cold brew on tap, a type of coffee where the ground beans are soaked overnight, or for at least 12 hours, creating a super smooth (and highly caffeinated, might I add) coffee. Pricewise, Starbucks is extremely expensive, in my opinion, for the size that you get. I agree with paying more for better quality, but a medium-sized coffee (significantly less than a Dunkin medium) is at least $3.65, and that is plain black. 

Price: $$$

My recommendation:

Hot: Pike place with a splash of almond milk (or cream), Latte with one pump of Hazelnut (made with almond milk)

Iced: Nitro cold brew with light ice, salted caramel cold foam on top.

Caffè Nero

Caffè Nero is a worldwide coffee chain and probably the best spot in town if you want to grab great coffee and spend the day working or studying at a cute cafe. Nero is consistently busy, so prepare to wait in a small line, but remember the end result is totally worth the wait. The quality of the food and drinks is top notch, with delicious baked goods and sandwiches to accompany your drink of choice. The coffee itself isn’t too bitter or too watery, I would say that it is the perfect inbetween. Be warned, the cold brew is dangerously caffeinated and I find myself shaking with jitters for hours after consumption, but it tastes delicious. You truly cannot go wrong, whether you are in the mood for a comforting hot chocolate, piled high with whipped cream and mini marshmallows, or if you want a fancy shmancy latte with a pretty little design left on top. The ambience inside only adds to the experience!

Price: $$$

My recommendation:

Hot: Hot chocolate (a classic, can never go wrong)

Iced: Iced vanilla latte made with oat milk

Ultimate Perk

I will make an assumption and say Perk would be the fan favorite for AHS students, and I think that if you attended school and studied each plastic coffee cup, the majority of them would be covered in the Perk logo. Mainly staffed by past and present AHS students themselves, Perk is a nice little shop that offers surprisingly good coffee, specifically their flavored coffees. Now, you may be thinking that by “flavored,” I mean adding some sugary syrup, but no. Perk has many different flavored roasts, some year round, some seasonal that help separate Perk from the other Andover coffee shops. From caramel nut crunch to brownie batter to pumpkin, Perk has it all, and most importantly, you can actually taste the flavor, even in a simple black coffee, no additives necessary. In a survey of AHS students, more than 50 percent voted for Perk when asked for the best coffee in all of Andover, a sign that it is a clear favorite for students. 

Price: $$

My recommendations:

Iced medium cinnamon sticky bun (black)

Medium iced/hot vanilla latte with oat milk

STAFF PHOTO/ Camille Storch
Junior Karen Phung enjoys a nice refreshing iced cinnamon sticky bun coffee from Ultimate Perk, as she rings in the warm weather.