Perfecting the drip

The coffee business booms as consumers demand specialty drinks

By TINA REED

The State News, Michigan State University

The specialty coffee craze is sweeping East Lansing's local coffee shops and students are flocking to order their own personal favorite.
Tall or Grande. Latte or Americano. Chai or Yerba. It's all part of a vocabulary that's become as American as the term "supersize."

While the American coffee craze is nothing new, the specialty coffee industry has exploded in the last decade and the Lansing area is no exception as people of all ages, especially students, flock to the same hangout: the local coffee shop.

MSU graduate student Jiyoung Hwang typically gets a regular cup of coffee when she studies at Beaner's Gourmet Coffee, 270 W. Grand River Ave., but when she wants to treat herself, she often buys her favorite beverage there, a Mocha Mocha.

The specialty beverage contains a mixture of different chocolates, coffee and whipped cream.

Hwang said she goes into the shop at least four times a week and night after night the place is packed with students. It's the "Starbucks generation," Hwang said, a specialty coffee culture of people willing to pay extra cash for the exact drink they want - and they do it often.

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