Expresso youself

  Are you someone who likes their coffee black or with a flavor? For example, french vanilla, hazelnut, almond, or one of the other many different flavors of coffee available. There are a number of different coffee flavors available for anyone to customize their preferred drink.

  The number of American adults that drink coffee is 57 percent and the consumption of coffee for people ages 18-24 and 40-59 were at a record high in 2007, according to the "National Coffee Drinking Trend Study" by the National Coffee Association.

  "I'm not much of a coffee drinker," said junior Taylor Wurthman. "I don't like the bitter taste of it."

  For those like Wurthman who don't like the taste of black coffee or coffee with just milk and sugar, there are a number of flavors available.

  "Vanilla and hazelnut are good together, it makes a french vanilla," said Starbucks Shift Supervisor Tammy Pape of Zanesville, Ohio. "Toffee nut's really good [too]."

  Another factor that that modifies the taste of coffee is the roast. Coffee roasting is the process a green coffee bean goes through to change the flavor of it. Acidity, aftertaste, and body of the coffee are determined by the roast.

  "Most of our light roasts have more of an acidity taste or lingers on your tongue more and as a darker of a roast it has more of a light acidity," said Pape.

  The roast is divided into two categories, light roast and dark roast. The divisions are determined by the amount of time the coffee bean is cooked.

  "A light roast is not cooked as long," said Pape. "A dark roast is cooked longer and, like the Italian, is our darkest roast and it's cooked to its perk."

  The coffee bean gets roasted in a roasting machine that uses heat to roast the bean. A light roast is roasted until the coffee bean experience its first crack. Light roasts are light brown or chestnut brown in color with a dry surface. Light roasts are sweeter and have more of the original flavors.

  The dark roast is roasted until the bean begins to smoke because the sugars begin to carbonize. Dark roast coffee beans are dark brown to black and appear very oily on the surface. These oils shine in the cup of brewed coffee. The dark roasts often taste more bittersweet.

  The top three flavors Starbucks sells, according to Pape, are caramel macchiato, mocha, and white mocha. A caramel macchiato is a vanilla latte with less vanilla, extra foam, and caramel sauce drizzled on top. Mix it around before you drink it to blend the two flavors. Mocha is espresso and steamed milk mixed with chocolate and served with whipped cream on top. These are not very sweet but you can add an extra flavor or sugar. White mocha is Espresso and steamed milk mixed with white chocolate syrup and served with whipped cream. These are sweeter than a plain mocha.

  "My favorite is the seasonal pumpkin spice late at Starbucks," said Ashley George, a regular at Starbucks. "Since it is located right next to where I work, I always pick up a coffee before going into work."