The Know: Get Thee To Caribou Coffee. Now

By Jill

Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Sure it may not be a resume builder, but it will earn bragging rights that lil ‘ol you turned thousands of readers on to your latest obsession and, really, who doesn’t want that?

Caribou Coffee Chocolate Drinks
Caribou Coffee is the reason why my new year’s resolution has already gone to hell. “Drink less coffee, spend less money and be healthier” were the words I uttered exactly one week ago today…and then those always-happy baristas introduced me to their latest and greatest mochas. Which explains why those guys behind the counter are always smiling.

These things aren’t just mochas, they are friends. Maybe even better than friends, unless your friends are made with REAL chocolate. Yes, ooey, gooey, sweet and delicious milk, white or dark chocolate is the base of this hot cup of happiness, not that powdered crap you get everywhere else. And OMG, can you taste a difference. It’s like drinking a candy bar. Honestly, besides the ring of dark choco my daily indulgence leaves around my mouth (and the red ring my now-tight jeans leave around my belly), Caribou’s mochas are 100% perfection. In moderation. Which I am still trying to learn.

Photo Text Catalog
This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while and I like to think I see lots of cool stuff. First photographers snap photos of places all over the world. Think: your college town, your hometown, where you went abroad, where you were born, where your grandfather lived in Europe. Then the brilliant people behind this little company use those amazing photographs to spell out a word: your name, last name, welcome, peace, wazzuppppp, the options are endless. Suddenly a statue on your campus becomes an “I” and that legendary fountain forms the “O.” What you end up with is a very personal, sentimental and unique piece of art for you or someone you love. I can’t think of a better graduation present. In fact, I think I may just get one for myself so I’ll never have to leave Madison behind.