Coffee adventures on and off campus
It’s probably no surprise that Caltech students like to get off campus sometimes! Some students go to the beach whenever they can, or go to concerts in LA, or go hiking or mountain biking in Altadena or the greater LA area. I don’t have a car, but I like to go off-campus to grab coffee and study in a new spot, or just go to Old Pas to shop (read: waste my Blogging paycheck). I’ve also started brewing my own coffee in my room in Page House, having finally ordered a coffee grinder, electric kettle, and pour-over cone. I think the setup is pretty good for a $30 investment and some beans from Target!
If you’re a major coffee drinker, there are a ton of options on and around campus. You can always brew your own (and some students do), but there is also free coffee in open kitchen (brewed once in the morning), and the Red Door Cafe in the center of campus, which brews coffee from Jones Coffee Roasters, which is about a mile and a half south of campus in Pasadena. If you wanted to get off campus, there areStarbucks, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and Philz Coffee each within about a 10-15 minute walk from the Houses.
If you’re willing to walk a little farther (or if you have a car!), there are amazing options in Old Pas. I love Home Brewed Bar, which serves cold brew coffee and a ton of tea options. Intelligentsia and Copa Vida are great too, and both serve amazing pastries (but if you go to Intelligentsia, go to Pie Hole next door for fruit hand pies with your coffee!).
I really like pairing my afternoon coffee with snacks, so I’ve been baking quite a bit recently as well. Two takes on pumpkin muffins (chocolate chip whole wheat pumpkin muffins, and chai-spiced oatmeal pumpkin muffins) have been two recent creations:
Classes haven’t even started yet, and I’m already making a list of places to go to get away from campus! I promise it’s not that bad here :P It’s just nice to explore the neighborhood! If you’re interested in learning more about what’s around campus in Pasadena, let me know in the comments and I can reach out to other students who might have information about hiking, museums, etc. that I don’t have!
