Weekly CORtado

 We've officially reached the point in the semester where the most energy I can muster is to walk across the street and go to Starbucks. I'm sure everyone here already has their opinions of Starbucks already decided, so I'm not going to attempt to sway anyone either direction. As much as I am not the biggest fan, I can't deny the extreme convenience of being able to order from my phone and barely leave the music building.  Like many people my age, Starbucks was my first foray into coffee. My mom & stepdad Greg used to love taking me and my older sister to the beach for day trips. We would leave before the sun rose, and to keep us from being obnoxious the entire drive, we would always start trips with Starbucks. They would order drinks for us kids loaded with espresso and sugar, so we would have a crazy burst of energy, followed swiftly by a crash that would leave us knocked out for hours.  I wanted to contrast a coffee chain that is so ubiquitous with a piece of mus

 It's only Wednesday, and I already am missing Spring Break...  I was fortunate to spend the first half of my break down in Fayetteville, Arkansas attending the SHE: Festival of Women in Music hosted by the U of A. It was a weekend of presentations and performances celebrating the music of non-male composers & performers, not to mention a lot of good Southern food. I went with fellow University of Iowa doctoral student Sara Remoy who is a proud Arkansas alumna, so I had an expert source to finding the best spots in Fayetteville. My favorite coffee shop we stopped by was the Onyx Coffee Lab.  Onyx was rather busy, but still managed to maintain a quiet enough atmosphere to have a conversation or get some work done on your own. At first sip, it was easy to see why this roaster has won so many awards (one of their former baristas & now wholesale director Lance Hedrick has a great YouTube channel for learning more about coffee brewing & equipment reviews). Their mission is

 This week I wanted to highlight another near Voxman favorite: The Java House. The Java House has multiple locations in Iowa City, with their downtown one being a short walk from the music building. I'll go ahead and give a disclaimer that this is not my favorite spot for regular coffee orders...  However! I think the Java House stands out in two categories. First, it is my favorite place to hold meetings or work with friends. The noise level is just right, there is plenty of seating, and the free Wifi has yet to disappoint me. The Java House also stands out in their fun seasonal drinks. They're often too sweet for me for my usual caffeine fix, however they're fun to share with a friend for a mid day treat. For this excursion, I went with my friend Xiaoyu (who also has a blog, check it out !) and we each enjoyed a coconut dream latte (which if you like your drinks to not actually taste like coffee I highly recommend) and each other's company.  The same way I wanted to h