Coffee bartenders: more than serving up your java

It's like clockwork. Every morning before class, groggy Hopkins students make their way to one of the many coffee bars on campus to grab a cup of the magic elixir that will get them through the day. Jazzman's Caf?? and Caf?? Q -- Hopkins's two coffee shops, constantly serve throngs of overworked, tired and frustrated students and professors.

The campus's dependency on coffee became abundantly clear one week in February when the espresso machine broke in Caf?? Q and the little joy that a mocha or cappuccino brought to a lot of people's days was gone. Everyday during that week, students were complaining about Caf?? Q's broken machine.

The people who work at the various caf??s and coffee bars around campus clearly feel the stress, too. Most of the people that frequent these establishments are either in dire need of coffee or are running on caffeine.

According to freshman Kiran Valiani, who works at Caf?? Q, it's often easy to distinguish the regulars from everyone else. "[I know someone is a regular when] they know the name of our drinks versus the name of a Starbucks drink," she said.

Not only can caf?? employees tell who the regulars are, but the regulars usually know them as well. "Customers ask me how I am when they recognize me from Caf?? Q," said freshman Ernesto Perez.

And just like with any job, the people that work at Jazzman's and Caf?? Q have stories about their customers. "One guy bought a coffee and a brownie [when I was working the register]," explained Valiani. "I told him that he was going to love his brownie, and that it is my favorite. He told me that it looks like crap but it's all that's left."

"One day I wasn't paying attention to the bill a woman handed me," recalled Perez. "I thought it was a one-dollar bill, but it was a twenty. She thought I was trying to cheat her so she got into an argument with me."

Freshman Richard Tapnio, who works at Jazzman's, added that some coffee drinkers are particularly picky with their orders. "[One time], a secretary for a dean wanted me to make a cappuccino for him," he said. "She didn't think that I made the first one right and made me make the cappuccino two more times."

Despite some of the rare incidents that naturally arise from constantly dealing with people, working at a coffee shop definitely has its advantages. Perez feels that one of the best parts of his job is that he gets unlimited free coffee.

"I am a big coffee drinker and I get all the coffee I want for free so I take advantage of that." This includes drinking espresso shots before he heads off to study in the library.

"[The best part of the job is] working in a casual environment and getting to see my professors outside of class," said Valiani.

The throngs of people at Hopkins dependent on Caf?? Q and Jazzman's don't seem to be dying down anytime soon. "I wouldn't say that I am addicted, I just really like it," said freshman Jenny Kahn, a Caf?? Q regular who admitted she goes at least once a day.

Freshman Kristy Gangaram prefers Jazzman's because it is "convenient to be able to use points to get coffee." Gangaram loves to "try new drinks" and at her coffee peak was going to Jazzman's "more than tree times a week." And while everyone seems to have an opinion on Jazzman's versus Caf?? Q, it is quite clear that everyone loves their coffee."