As I stare at the words in my AP edition Campbell Biology in Focus (Urry, Cain et al 2014) textbook, I realize that it has been 20 minutes since a single piece of information entered my head.

I need caffeine.

I walk up to the cash register, where I see Luis, the first of many Starbucks employees to remember my complicated order.

“Just the usual today?” he asks.

I nod, and he begins to input my obnoxious order into the system: one venti strawberry açai refresher, no lemonade,  substitute water for green tea and less ice.

I was first introduced to the strawberry açai refresher by my friend senior Ashley Feng, who originally ordered it without any modifications. The original drink (which came with lemonade and water) was way too sweet for my taste, so I would add water from my own water bottle to dilute it. But to my disappointment, I found that it tasted less than pleasant.

One day, I was feeling particularly adventurous (and tired), so I decided to order the strawberry açai refresher with green tea instead of lemonade and water. In that moment, my life changed.

If made correctly with a 3:1 ratio of tea to refresher, the green tea brings out the taste of the strawberry açai refresher perfectly while also providing part of my daily caffeine fix.

To this day, there is only one store that consistently makes my order correctly.

I began frequenting the Argo-Saratoga Starbucks during my junior year, but it was the summer before senior year when the location truly became my go-to study place. The cozy store with its homey wooden tables and abundance of comfy seats has become my second home, so it’s no surprise that my friends and I have dubbed it “the home.”

Recently, I ordered the exact same drink at the San Jose Airport, but it was way too sweet, and there was no ice at all.

Lukewarm sweet tea? No thanks.

Since my friend senior Francesca Chu and I began to regularly order the drink, more and more of our friends have started to adopt our unique order, and more and more baristas at “the home” have learned our names.

Sending a huge shoutout to the workers who have memorized my order and bothered to learn my name: It means more than you might think. I’ve probably spent at least $300 since the start of the school year solely on venti strawberry açai refreshers with less ice, green tea and no water, but the unique taste of the drink itself and the memories shared in “the home” are invaluable.