The STEAM Café located on the first floor of Schoenecker Center. Coffee shops on campus have helped many students get the refreshments they need to succeed.(Eli Andersen/The Crest) 
The Stacks Café located on the first floor of O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center. (Eli Andersen/The Crest) 
The Loft located on the third floor of the Anderson Student Center. (Eli Andersen/The Crest) 
The STEAM Café located on the first floor of Schoenecker Center. (Eli Anderson/The Crest)
After reading reporter Emmy Schulz’s “The definitive St. Thomas dining hall cookie ranking,” I set out to rate my own guilty pleasure on campus: the coffee shops. But I realized, each of these delightful establishments are great in their own ways, and in fact, have helped me out one way or another in my college career thus far.
Beakers
Rest in peace to Beakers, the coffee shop nobody remembers anymore, and one that I certainly didn’t frequent. Lost to the construction of a new, bigger STEM building, Beakers was demolished and is now a study area in OWS. As a freshman in the fall of 2022, I was disheartened by the fact that I had to take a science class. But my asynchronous course had one positive to it: on the three in-person labs that I attended that semester, I could stop by Beakers to grab my favorite drink, the iced caramel latte (which has now been demoted by my new obsession, the iced vanilla latte). This decision to get coffee each time I had lab was eventually ruined by the knowledge that I could not bring drinks into the lab classroom, and the tradition soon ceased. I never went there again, but I’m glad the option was there, had I discovered a newfound love of biology.
STEAM Café
I declared a journalism minor the term before the Schoenecker Center opened, something I would not have done if I had known I would have to trek to the south side of campus every day following (I’m only kind of kidding). But in doing so, I discovered STEAM Café, my saving grace. Do I have super early classes? No. But do I get coffee almost every day when I have class or work in that building? Yes. And you best believe it’s the same iced vanilla latte that I get everywhere else I go (but, in case you’re wondering, this one is my favorite). And now, on the days when I have to use the computer lab outside of class time, a nice drink from the café will motivate me to walk the 15 minutes from my dorm to work on schoolwork. Having to spend so much time in that building is really an issue when I walk past the café every day, wondering, should I use up all my dining dollars now, or later in the semester?
Stacks
I always assumed I’d be in the library more often than I actually am. As an avid book reader and definite procrastinator when doing homework near my bed (since I could at any moment choose to take a nap instead), I thought going to the library to do my work would help me stay focused and busy. And so, when I chose to take that route, I would often get coffee at Stacks (which, by the way, has the best name of the three shops). I don’t study in the library much anymore, but I am often near the JRC or OEC for classes, and I have determined that Stacks is a great place for a pick-me-up like a chai latte in the afternoon. Also, shout-out to that barista who memorized my order sophomore year. I must have been there a lot for her to recognize me.
The Loft
If you are going to a coffee shop specifically to study, this is, in my opinion, the best one. It’s not too quiet, but it’s not too loud. There are rarely open seats, but when there are, it’s a comfortable change of scenery. Plus, The Loft does free coffee events a few times a year. And if you are going to The View to eat, this coffee shop is right there; what’s one more flight of stairs to climb if you’ve already gone up two? Though this mindset may be a flawed one, I made a habit one year of frequently going to The Loft on my busiest class day to decompress and force myself to study. The coffee helped as a plus side and gave me something to look forward to.
My consensus is this: Whether you are a coffee, tea, matcha or strictly iced vanilla latte drinker like me, each café will have something for you. There is no need for rankings, because, as I have discovered, each will be there for you in different circumstances. It will be a boost when you feel like you cannot go any longer without caffeine, or bring you delight if you simply have become addicted to the taste of coffee in your years of undergraduate studies.
Bridget Schmid can be reached at schm1520@stthomas.edu.
