Guest blog by Sanchit Wadhawan

I love coffee. I drink it every day.

When I was looking for clubs to join as a first year the coffee club seemed like the natural intersection of a place, I could meet new people while doing something I liked.

If you told me two years ago that I would have one leadership position at Booth and that would be co-chair of the Booth Coffee Club, I would have raised an eyebrow to say the least. But as I write this piece two weeks before I graduate, I’m grateful that I could be a part of it.

I think every Boothie who drinks coffee should be a part of coffee club. At the very least, you get to try new coffee shops, buy discounted beans, and meet new people. We can help you find the best coffee shops in the city and tell you what beans you should try next.

If you’re an aficionado, you can learn how to make different styles of coffee, taste beans from around the world, and even tour roasteries around town. If you have an idea for a coffee event, we’ll work to make it happen!

The goal of coffee club is to provide spaces for people meet, drink coffee, and maybe learn a thing or two about their favorite beverage.

Believe it or not, there’s still Boothies who don’t know we have a coffee club, or if they have heard of us, don’t know what we do. I want to use this space to highlight some of our activities:

The Classic “Grab n’ go”

This is how we explore the local coffee scene. We pick a coffee shop in Chicago to meet up at and members get $10 towards coffee and pastries.

Workshops

We teach members how to make different types of coffee and how different brew methods affect taste and experience. Pour over too bitter? We can help! Never pulled an espresso shot? Come try on our espresso machine!

Collabs with other Student Clubs

Coffee club is all about building community, and one way we’ve tried to do that is by bringing in other student organizations. We’ve done a Vietnamese coffee tasting with the Asia-Pacific club, an Indian Filter Coffee experience with the South Asian Business Group, and a trip to a board game café with Booth Games Group. Some of us got to tag along with the Innovation and Design Club for a behind-the-scenes tour of Metric Coffee Roasters as well.

Trading Beans

We have done a holiday bean exchange for years now. Members get matched randomly to each other and get up to $25 to buy a bag of beans and trade it with a classmate they may not know. This year, we piloted a wholesale program where we partnered with Onyx Roasters to buy coffee tax-free at a discount and pass the savings onto members. Next year, we want to increase access to cheaper, high-quality beans to all of Booth.

Being a co-chair of something you care about is one of most rewarding experiences you can have as a Boothie.

Through the Coffee Club, I got to meet some amazing people and drink some fantastic coffee. If you’re reading this as an incoming Booth, join coffee club. Cheers!