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What It’s Like Being a Non-Coffee Drinker in a Coffee Addicted World

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

It’s hard out here being a coffee hater in today’s generation.

In a time when Starbucks, Chamberlain Coffee, Dunkin, etc. are such popular places for iced and brewed coffee beverages, it’s hard not to be aware of such a coffee craze.

I’ve tried it all, from blonde to dark roast, ice coffee to cold brew and every milk on the market in order to try and enjoy a cup of coffee, but nothing has ever made the taste of coffee any less distasteful. No matter how much cream and sugar (and yes, I’ve even tried the flavored syrups from vanilla and beyond) the taste of coffee itself has never been appealing.

So after that unfortunate discovery, I decided to give espresso drinks a try, from caramel macchiatos to lattes, I decided to test the waters with something new, only to realize that I just can’t handle anything espresso. My taste buds just couldn’t even get over the bitter taste (and neither could my stomach, not even the blonde espresso shots).

I realized that maybe coffee was just something that I didn’t like, but there were perhaps other beverages that I could give a try. After all, you win some and you lose some apparently.

Yet, for a while, I wanted to understand what the craze about coffee was all about. What made people so addicted to it? And what even made some people unable to cope without it for a day?

The answer will probably always remain unknown to me, but my distaste for coffee hasn’t stopped me from finding other drinks to enjoy.

I won’t lie and say I have been a die-hard strawberry acai fan for years, as it was basically one of the few beverages that I could enjoy (hot chocolate is good, but who wants to enjoy that in the summer?) So I decided to give chai tea lattes a try and I’ll tell you my world has definitely opened up since then.

You could add a bit of pumpkin spice or just a bit of vanilla to jazz it up, the choices are honestly endless, but my tea fanatics stopped there.

I soon realized that whether cold, hot, fruit or plain black tea, I just couldn’t get the hype, and thus guilt set in. I began to consider myself weird for not enjoying this simple pleasure that seemed to swamp my generation, and although I tried to make up for it with other beverages, it’s hard seeing promotions for something that you don’t have the luxury of enjoying.

Although, I keep telling myself that it isn’t a big deal. It is hard sometimes, but that’s why I just look at the positives, the main one being that I save money where coffee is concerned.

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, and that’s okay. It’s what makes us all human, and while I wish that sometimes I could just enjoy a good cup of jo, I know it’s just one of my many dislikes.

In the end if I dislike something (even if its coffee), I know that just means there are new things I have yet to try and enjoy!

Elonie is a sophomore currently attending Penn State as a journalism major. When she's not busy, she's curled up starting Netflix shows she'll never finish.