Karissa is a senior English major and Creative Writing minor at Western Illinois University. In their free time, they like to watch films, see live music, try new restaurants, and, occasionally, sleep in.

M&L: What is your coffee order?

KLG: I don’t have a specific go-to order! Whenever I go to a coffee shop, I like to order whatever one of their new specials are, if they have any, or one of their signature lattes. Some of my favorites include the horchata latte from The Coffee Belt in Muscatine, IA, the Poe from Dead Poet’s Espresso in Moline, IL, and The Cure from Coffee Apothecary in Bettendorf, IA. If I had to choose something to make myself, I tend to like coffees with maple, blueberry, or French vanilla syrups/flavorings. And I tend to choose iced coffee more, but if I’m in the right mood, I’ll get a hot latte.

M&L: What is your favorite coffee shop? 

KLG: I like so many different coffee shops – too many to talk about here – but if I absolutely have to pick a favorite, it would likely be Koffee Junktion, since I’ve worked there for nearly four years! It’s a lot of fun and we have a huge selection of syrups. We’re actually best known for our energy drinks. I’m a big fan of the Lotus drinks that we have and am often making up new concoctions – whether it’s energy or coffee – each shift.

M&L: Who do you share coffee with? 

KLG: More often than not, I’m sharing coffee with my mom and sister, who are even bigger fans of coffee than I am. We often get coffee from our favorite shops whenever we go out, and we like finding new places to try whenever we go on trips/vacations. Since my sister was hired at Koffee Junktion, she and I often make up a new coffee and split it to taste test before it’s released to the public.

M&L: How is coffee part of your reading and writing life? 

KLG: I know a lot of people drink coffee to give themselves energy and help themselves focus when reading, writing, or doing any other sort of work, but high amounts of caffeine make me a bit jittery and make it hard to focus, so if I’m drinking coffee at all, it’s usually decaf and I’m drinking it purely because I enjoy it! I don’t think coffee is inherently part of my reading and writing life, any more than my water bottle or a cup of tea is. Sometimes, I just happen to be drinking it.

M&L: Describe your first sip of the day.

KLG: My first sip of the day – of my whole week, actually, as I open at Koffee Junktion on Mondays – is at work, when my sister comes into work at 9 A.M., and we make up a coffee to split between the two of us. We look in a little green book in the shop, which has pages upon pages of drink ideas, and choose the one that sounds the most appealing to us that morning. We put in the syrups, then the espresso or cold brew, then the ice, then some almond milk. We mix it, split it into two cups, and try a sip. Some coffees are better than others, but it’s nice—this little ritual we’ve created for Monday and Wednesday mornings.