By Anna Hsu, Staff Editor
The lights flicker on in the café below Canaday Library.
Although the space itself is open to students at all hours, The Lusty Cup serves the Bryn Mawr community from 5:00pm to midnight on Sundays and 8:00pm to midnight Monday through Friday.
I’ve only ever visited The Lusty Cup in the morning, when the couches are barely filled and the counter is barren. You can occasionally spot a few students hurriedly printing a last-minute assignment or cramming before a test. But when evening falls, the café is transformed from a practical, academic stop for busy students into a welcoming haven for anyone who needs a break from their hectic academic life.
Cindy Chea ‘22 is hard at work, grinding fresh coffee beans and frothing milk with a practiced ease. Some students lounge on the sofas, others chat among their friends while sipping drinks. Chea catches my eye and waves me over excitedly.
Though I don’t normally drink coffee, I feel obligated to order something. Chea offers to make a drink for free, but I emphatically refuse. I agonize over a few choices from the Specialty Menu—can my stomach handle a Marrero Madness? Eventually, I defer to Chea’s judgment. She whips up a Pooh Bear: chamomile tea with coconut milk foam and honey. “It’s a great drink for sick days,” Chea laughs. “I think it’s really popular right now, since everyone on campus has the flu.”
How did you end up working at The Lusty Cup?
Well, I liked making drinks at UnCommon Grounds. I also got kind of obsessed with latte art. I’d practice every time someone ordered a latte, and over the summer I even got a $15 milk steamer. I watch a lot of latte art videos in my free time too…
There’s also the music aspect [at Lusty]. Each barista has their own playlist of a specific genre of music, and it’s a big part of the hiring process. The employers last year wanted to find people with diverse music tastes, so students can come in on different days of the week and enjoy a variety of music.
What would you call your playlist?
Korean R&B! Honestly, I was kinda nervous at first, since it’s not in English. But I think the music itself is really good, even if people can’t understand it. They’re chill beats, lo-fi, something you can relax to. I love when people ask me, “What song is this?” and I can give them a recommendation. I spent a lot of time curating my playlist, and sometimes I’ll sit down and give it a listen to make sure it fits with the vibe I’m trying to create in Lusty.
What distinguishes Lusty from UnCommon?
Well, we do our best to model an actual coffee shop. We grind the beans by hand, tamper the grounds, and foam the milk. There’s a lot to keep track of, like figuring out how many beans you have to use and controlling how much air goes into the milk. At UnCommon, all you have to do is press a button and the machine just makes the coffee for you. So the coffee here is harder to make, but the process is a lot more fun. And I think it makes it a lot more personal too.
But UnCommon has more food.
That’s true. But we have more syrup types for coffee. There’s golden turmeric, raspberry, pumpkin spice, toasted marshmallow, caramel apple butter, tiramisu … we also have lactose-free alternatives, like soy and coconut and oat milk.
So you’d classify Lusty as a more coffee-centric shop?
Definitely. We put a lot more care into making the drinks. And there’s a protocol for making the drinks fresh, too. Our current machine makes two shots per use, but if a customer doesn’t arrive within the next two minutes, we have to throw out the old shot. So you’re guaranteed to have a fresh cup.
Speaking of drinks, what would you say are the favorites?
Well, I haven’t been working here for long, so I can’t be certain. I think the drinks on the Specialty Menu are pretty good. We haven’t changed those for a while. But I think the favorites now are the Pooh Bear and the Dirty Chai.
Any new events happening soon?
I’m actually the social media person for Lusty. We mainly use Instagram (check us out @thelustycup). You can get updates on special events or early closings. Right now we’re doing Astrology Night, where you can get special drinks according to your zodiac sign.
Anything else you want to say about The Lusty Cup, or maybe just coffee in general?
It sounds really cheesy, but I like how coffee itself connects people. If you meet someone new or if you want to reconnect with a friend, you invite them for coffee. It brings people together. And I want Lusty to be an environment where people can just take a break and relax for a while. We may just seem like a small, regular coffee shop, but there are a lot of things we do to make Lusty feel like a nice place for everyone.
The Lusty Cup may be small, but it performs its role as a cozy retreat spectacularly well. I’m refreshed and ready to face the next week head on. Lusty Cup knows exactly what the tired student needs: some hearty laughs, good vibes, and a hot cup of coffee to wash everything down.
Image credit: @thelustycup, Instagram
