The simple pleasures: a hot cup of joe

Bloomington's coffee fanatics have a variety of unique and colorful options when looking for a place to grab a hot cup of joe. Coffee houses range from hip and funky to modern and classic.\nSoma is just one of Bloomington's independently owned coffee houses, each of which offers its own specialized selection of drinks and treats as well as unique environments. \nSoma Coffee House and Juice Bar's walls are creatively painted and decorated with local artwork, the floors are embedded with international postcards and a T-shirt hangs boasting the café's motto: "No corporate aftertaste." \nWitty cards are for sale by the counter where baristas serve up lattes, cappuccinos, espressos and White Zombies. White Zombies, Soma's specialty drink, are made from unroasted coffee beans which are two to three times more caffeinated than regular coffee with no bitter taste. \n"That's a favorite among the sugar fiends and caffeine addicts," said senior Sarah Teeple, a Soma employee. \nThe café is located underneath Laughing Planet Café and Cactus Flower in a large house-turned business at 322 E. Kirkwood. Because it is in a house, the layout is unique. When first entering the café, it appears to only be one room, but a hallway leads to another larger room full of more mismatched tables and chairs cluttered with studying students and friends deep in conversation. \nSteve Bingonton, a Bloomington resident, comes to Soma for coffee almost every day. \n"The environment is nice, quirky and funky. It's a nice place to relax."\nTeeple said the cafe attracts a lot of regulars and some college students come to study there every night.\n'We have a definite diversity in our clientele," Teeple said. "We definitely have the college crowd, but also, being an established and non-corporate business, we get a lot of liberal thinkers and professor-types in here." \nSoma sometimes offers live music and poetry readings, including Old City Trio, a bluegrass group that plays at Soma every other Sunday.\nTD's CDs & LPs -- full of obscure and independent labels -- is attached to Soma's back room. Teeple said many patrons go "ga-ga" over the café's bathroom, which is covered in artwork and has its toilet a step up from the sink, giving it the appearance of a throne.\nThe Runcible Spoon is another unique coffee house in Bloomington. Located in a house at 412 E. 6th St. since 1976, the walls of The Runcible Spoon are lined with bookcases and artwork for sale by local artists. Empty coffee bean bags lie in piles in every corner as evidence that the café roasts its own beans. \n"There's not a lot of places that do that," said Regan Ton, who co-owns the restaurant with Matt O'Neill. Since she and O'Neill took over ownership of the establishment a few years ago, they expanded the coffee house's menu to include entrees for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They make their own pastries and recently started serving beer and wine.\n"We're all-encompassing," Ton said. \nAnother attraction at The Runcible Spoon is its highly decorated bathroom, which was ranked number eight in the Travel Channel's ranking of the country's top 10 bathrooms. Covered in underwater artwork, the bathroom's fish theme comes to life in the bathtub full of live goldfish. \n"The fish in the bathtub get a lot of buzz," Ton said.\nBloomington resident Rex Addleman has been a regular at The Runcible Spoon since its opening about 28 years ago. He runs a chess club that meets there 6 to 9 p.m. every Monday night.\n"I eat the breakfast special here about four days a week," Addleman said. "It's better bacon than I've eaten in my entire life, and I'm 51 years old!" \nAddleman said he usually drinks the regular coffee at The Runcible Spoon.\n"I don't like the fancy stuff," Addleman said.\nHe said he has kept going to the coffee house all these years because the staff there really cares about its clientele. \n"The food is excellent and this is the best coffee house in Bloomington -- I've been around to know."\nTon said the café's clientele consists of Bloomington residents and many professors and graduate students. Among the more popular drinks, Ton lists the blonde roast as one of the specialties. Similar to the White Zombie at Soma, the beans are not roasted for a very long time, resulting in a sweeter flavor of coffee than found in the regular blend as well as a larger caffeine content.\nIn addition to the chess club, The Runcible Spoon also plays host to an Irish music night every Tuesday and Open Mic Night from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays. \nPoetry groups also meet at the café and share their works, but these meetings usually occur as scheduled.\nRight next door to The Runcible Spoon at 408 E. 6th St. is another one of Bloomington's local coffee house treasures, The Bazaar Café. Jigme Norbu, who also owns local Tibetan restaurant The Snow Lion, opened the shop in July. It is another house transformed into a café with hard wood floors, winding rooms and a homey atmosphere of comfortable couches and lacey curtains. \n"I like the ambiance," said Christian Igboin, an Ohio State University student who has visited the café on several occasions. "It's usually pretty quiet. I like it because it has lots of rooms and crannies to study in."\nThe Bazaar Café offers the usual line up of cappuccinos, espressos, lattes and juices as well as treats including desserts and pre-made sandwiches.\nLattes, cappuccinos and espressos are very popular among Bloomington residents, but a new drink has appeared in some Bloomington cafés.\n'Bubble Tea,' an Asian beverage consisting of a latte tea mixed with tapioca pearls which recently became popular in America, is available at two locations near campus, The Copper Cup near Jordan Hall at 1400 E. 3rd St. and The Chow Bar across from the Law School at 216 S. Indiana Ave. \nSenior Duane Krambeck, who works at The Copper Cup, said the drink is one of their most popular items. \n"During the winter season it is not as popular as during warmer weather, but we have been getting a lot of requests for it," Krambeck said.\nThe Copper Cup offers 12 different flavors of Bubble Tea including coconut, starfruit and thai. The café sells the typical variety of coffee drinks and treats. It is set up as a coffee bar with high tables and stools.\nThe Chow Bar is actually a Chinese restaurant and doesn't serve many coffee drinks, but they do have the largest selection of Bubble Tea in Bloomington. The Chow Bar offers 22 flavors of Bubble Tea, ranging from plum to green tea.\nWhile Bubble Tea is gaining popularity in Bloomington, not everyone enjoys it. \n"I had coconut flavored (Bubble Tea) and it tasted like cleaning fluid," said junior August Evans, who fancies herself as a coffee connoisseur. "I think it may be more of a cultural thing." \nEvans said she didn't like the rubbery texture of the bubbles or the flavor and said they were a little strange. \nEncore Café at 316 W. Sixth St. and Theater Café at 323 E. Kirkwood Ave. were both purchased by Bloomingfoods about a year ago and offer a variety of organic foods to their patrons. \n"They switched our menu when they bought it and now it's a lot healthier," said Kennie McMillan, who works in the coffee bar at Encore Café. \nBloomington's plethora of diverse independently owned coffee houses has something to offer for everyone without corporate intrusion. For a student strapped for cash, places like the Chow Bar, Copper Cup, Soma Coffee House and Juice Bar accept Campus Access.