Students Cool Beans: On the Hill, a Specialty Coffee House Pops Up Weekly Stories You May Like No, Not My Coffee! How Climate Change Is Impacting Our Diets Mushrooms, Mariachis, and Much, Much More: Campus Clubs in Photos Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala A student-run club meets in Goldwin Smith to brew, sip, and discuss their devotion to all things java-related By Cornellians staff The first rule of Cornell Coffee Club: drink coffee. There are no other rules. Much like a dark-roasted morning cup of java to jolt your body’s engines, the Coffee Club is a robust Sunday afternoon congregation of students from an array of disciplines. It’s their chance to escape academic rigor and wind down. But this gathering is not about your grandfather’s grocery-shelf coffee. Think discussions of brews in the style of wine-tasting and discovering flavor notes you’d never imagined. Brews ready for sampling. Members meet in a Goldwin Smith Hall classroom—just a waft away from the Temple of Zeus café—and sample beans from all over the coffee-growing world. They tote digital scales, bean grinders, gooseneck-style electric kettles, and glass Chemex pour-over coffeemakers; they bring small boxes of beans to unveil the brews du jour. Nobody wings it. Members weigh the coffee and measure the water to ensure accurate ratios, and each week becomes a new adventure in taste. Members meet in a Goldwin Smith Hall classroom—just a waft away from the Temple of Zeus café—and sample beans from all over the coffee-growing world. Since factors like a bean’s species, the soil it was grown in, and how it was roasted all play a role, tasters often rely on a flavor wheel to describe the senses. Much like directions on a compass, the wheel comprises fruity and floral notes, hints of spice and sweetness, and nutty or burnt traces. “It’s such a different experience from what people normally have with coffee,” co-president Ethan Yu ’27 says of the club’s gatherings. “I think that’s why so many people sign up.” Club treasurer Flora Meng ’27 (left) and vice president Kalia Cheung ’28 enjoy some java. Meetings begin with brewing and short coffee-related presentations; then the sipping turns to socializing. Engineering majors talk to Hotelies, musicians converse with environmental science students. “It really is a community. It’s a very relaxed club,” says Yu, a biological sciences major in CALS. “A lot of people come just to chat with people they normally would not meet.” It’s such a different experience from what people normally have with coffee. I think that’s why so many people sign up. Ethan Yu ’27, co-president Jack Yarbrough, a doctoral student in music performance, serves as the club’s brewmaster. Arguably, he knows coffee like a sommelier knows wine. He began roasting it in high school in Alabama, when a friend brought him to a Birmingham coffee shop to try specialized, single-cup brews. Before that, he’d only experienced the drip variety. “The complexity of flavor just blew my mind,” Yarbrough recalls. “It really was a life-changing, eye-opening experience.” Grad students Jack Yarbrough (left) and Aditya Jain prepare for pour-overs. Soon, Yarbrough began ordering global bean varieties from online retailers that cater to coffee connoisseurs. Unable to afford several hundred dollars for a bean roaster, the resourceful then-teen used his parents’ electric hot-air popcorn popper. Stories You May Like No, Not My Coffee! How Climate Change Is Impacting Our Diets Mushrooms, Mariachis, and Much, Much More: Campus Clubs in Photos “I did this all in our basement,” he explains. “When you’re roasting coffee, it doesn’t fly out like popcorn.” (Yarbrough eventually bought a roaster—which resembles a tabletop chicken rotisserie, but with a cage full of beans.) Early in the fall 2025 semester, the Cornell club sampled El Diviso Ombligon from Colombia’s Huila Region; ombligon is Spanish for belly button, as the dimpled coffee bean resembles a human navel. Co-president Jeffrey Huang ’27 pours some samples. The variety, which placed third in the 2023 World Barista Championship, costs $32 for 10 ounces and is described as having flavor notes of Concord grape, licorice, and Dr. Pepper. Other varieties tasted this semester include the Colombian-grown Wilton Benitez Geisha, boasting notes of strawberry kiwi jam, mint julep, rosemary, and gardenia; Yembek, an Arabica from Uganda (blueberry, dates, apple cider); and Buncho, a honey-processed Arabica grown in Ethiopia (peach, raspberry, lemongrass). Meetings begin with brewing and short coffee-related presentations; then the sipping turns to socializing. “I definitely didn’t have a strong palate when I joined Coffee Club,” says its other co-president, Jeffrey Huang ’27, a capable latte artist who’s studying math and computer science. “I’ve learned to recognize what others were tasting and, over time, I was able to build up a flavor vocabulary.” Club treasurer Flora Meng ’27 savors the weekly ventures into new and unusual flavors—noting that since high-quality, small-batch coffees carry a high per-pound cost, they can often be out of reach for students. Beans get spritzed with water ... ... before going into the grinder. “Having a supportive, funded club lets us give our members some special experiences,” says Meng, an environment and sustainability major in CALS. Alumni, friends, and faculty sometimes stop by the meetings. Former president Matt Scimeca ’24, a researcher at a startup based in Ithaca, joined as a freshman during COVID—back when members would pick up small plastic bags of ground beans, brew them, and meet via Zoom. I’ve learned to recognize what others were tasting and, over time, I was able to build up a flavor vocabulary. Jeffrey Huang ’27, co-president “This was a good way to get some social interaction when that was very difficult,” recalls Scimeca, a chemistry major who grew so fascinated with coffee that he added a minor in food science. Among the more unusual brews the members have sampled: a light roast from Colombia dubbed Fruit Loops. Did it really taste like the kids’ cereal? Says Yu: “It was completely on point.” Top: Jack Yarbrough (left) and Jeffrey Huang pursue their passion for pour-over. (All photos by Ryan Young / Cornell University) Published October 24, 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Campus & Beyond Working to Reunite Families Fractured by Opioids Campus & Beyond Works of Art, Inside and Out: The Johnson Museum at 50 Students Master’s Student Advocates for Afghanistan’s Girls and Women