This finals week, in many ways, is the last of its kind.

Per Dean Smith's email about budget cuts, most students should already be aware that they must say good-bye to those kind exam proctors, treasure every hour spent in the Quad Library, and cherish that hot breakfast before their 9:15 exams.

But most students might be unaware that during next year's finals, they will be pulling all-nighters not with the help of the traditional dining hall coffee, but with the aid of a new brew.

This morning about a dozen students gathered in Queen's Head Pub to taste, enjoy, and ultimately score three coffee brands.  

New England Coffee set up along with two other vendors, Green Mountain Coffee and Seattle's Best, and all three proceeded to woo students with charming salemanship, sweet treats, and of course, smooth coffee.

More on this sweet event, after the jump.

The coffee tasting event was the first of its kind at Harvard; HUDS has been serving New England Coffee for the past 40 years.

But due to negative feedback concerning the quality of the coffee, HUDS realized it might be time for a change, said Crista Martin, the HUDS Director for Marketing & Communications.

In light of the current economy, Martin assured participants that the change will be "cost-neutral".

Here's the lowdown on the three brands that HUDS is considering:

  • New England Coffee: A local brand, based in Malden, MA, that has served Harvard for three generations (and going on a fourth --the salesman's nephew was there). Currently Annenberg stocks the Central Highlands Blend, but the vendor today had six different blends, including Hazelnut and French Roast, that were an improvement over the norm.

  • Green Mountain Coffee: A Vermont-based company that, perhaps aware that green is the new crimson, took the full twenty minutes allotted to underline its commitment to environmental sustainability.  All three vendors had Fair Trade Coffee, but Green Mountain Coffee came equipped with folders and bumper stickers that emphasized the point.  The Island Coconut flavor was surprisingly good, but it's a limited edition, and does Harvard even have flavored coffee in the dining halls?  

  • Seattle's Best: A West Coast brand that exuded smoothness from both the salespeople and the coffee.  This company also highlighted its commitment to ethics and the environment, and hand-served each participant until we couldn't drink anymore.  At that point, they supplied us with free bags of ground coffee before we turned in our score sheets.

It'll be interesting to see who comes out on top.  In the meantime, anyone have a coffee maker?  FlyBy needs to unleash the potential of these free beans.  Soon.