By Sydney Shanker Art by Tracy Zhang As the third quarter begins, academic momentum gradually slows. Therefore, the need for coffee is more prevalent than ever. SMS students want to stay on top of their work while also staying awake, and one of the best ways to do this is by drinking coffee. Samantha Jones (12), St. Mary’s own resident coffee connoisseur, rates the top 5 best coffee shops in Memphis to help you combat the third quarter blues. The Hub Overall Rating: 7/10 The Hub coffee shop in Highpoint Church is a popular spot for many SMS girls. Jones said, “It’s definitely a great place to study, other than it being closed on Sundays.” The Hub is not entirely close to St. Mary’s, but their coffee definitely makes up for it. Their butternut squash latte is amazing, and so are their other specialty drinks. “It was definitely more elevated than the typical Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte,” said Jones. The number of parking spaces is also an added plus. The large worry of never being able to find a spot isn’t prevalent here due to the combined lot of the church and The Hub.  Photo courtesy of Meghan Aslin Comeback Coffee Overall Rating: 8.5/10 Comeback Coffee has a great study space. It’s a beautiful space if you want to spread out your work, even providing a back porch with covered outside seating. “They do a coffee soda there, which is really interesting, and they can it,” said Jones. This coffee soda is one of the pillars of Comeback Coffee, and they even have different flavors. Plus, they often replenish their list of specialty drinks and are dog-friendly. The study space is very chill and not loud, but they do play music. There isn’t a ton of other hustle and bustle surrounding the area, so it’s a nice, relaxed spot to catch up on some homework over the weekend. Jones suggested not going there for a meal, but to stick to the pastries. Comeback Coffee is definitely a great place to try something new, catch up on your homework, and pet some cute dogs.  Photo courtesy of Meghan Aslin Belltower Overall Rating: 9/10 Belltower Coffeehouse and Studio is located on Highland near campus and has amazing food. They have their own kitchen, so they cook all of their food in-store. Jones explained that it is a great place to study and work, and you can stay a while as well because they have food to supply you throughout the day. They have a large study space and covered outside seating as well. Plus, they’re dog-friendly. Jones said, “There's different waves of coffee, but they use a specialty roastery in terms of what they have ‘on bar’ and that’s what they use in their espresso drinks.”  Photo courtesy of Meghan Aslin Ugly Mug Overall Rating: 8.75/10 Jones is an Ugly Mug pro. She has mastered the drive-through and said that “if you want to get there before school with no line, get there at 7. If you get there at 7:05, you might have 3 cars ahead of you.” Their drive-through makes for easy access, but also sometimes takes a long time. “It’s definitely not a place that you would go to study,” said Jones, “but their coffee is really good.” Ugly Mug roasts their beans locally so they are always fresh, and its proximity to school makes for easy access.  Photo courtesy of Meghan Aslin Vice & Virtue Overall Rating: 9/10 Vice & Virtue has a great study space, but it has definitely picked up more on the weekends. The coffee shop is located in the lobby of ARRIVE Hotel, so the number of customers on the weekends tends to increase proportionally to the capacity of guests booked for a stay at ARRIVE. On the weekdays, it isn’t too busy, so it is definitely a great spot to get work done if you live further downtown. The shop has its own roasting space on Broad and “bourbon barrel-aged” coffee beans. Jones explained that “they take Blue Note bourbon-used barrels and they age their beans that they roasted in the barrels.” The one con of the entire place is definitely the parking problem. Finding a spot downtown is definitely a bit difficult on crowded days so you might just end up paying a meter if you find a spot.  Photo courtesy of Meghan Aslin
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