How to survive exam season, volume 1: staying awake LIKE A BOSS.

Well, it's revision time again, which means I'm doing anything and everything I can think of to put off actually getting any work done. It also means I'm spending my entire life on campus at the moment, and my typical diet looks something like this:

The banana is important - it means this is healthy.

When I'm not turning myself into a highly caffeinated human pot noodle, I'm in the library poring through equations and derivations and trying my damndest not to fall asleep. There are various tips for this on the Internet, most of which revolve around the consumption of some form of stimulant(s). This is no exception, but I think I've hit on something good and I want to share it with you, because it gives me an extra fifteen minutes of denial about how few of my notes make any kind of sense to me.

My secret is this:

What we have here ladies and gentlemen is essentially a frappuccino and yes, this has been a convoluted build up to another student recipe blog. So here goes.

You will need:
Coffee
Sugar (vanilla sugar if you're feeling decadent)
Milk
Ice
Water
A kettle

Step 1: Boil the water. You won't need much, just fill the kettle up to the "minimum" mark so you don't damage it.
Step 2: Put the coffee and sugar into some kind of container. I use a measuring jug because it's easy to decant into the bottle. I usually use a teaspoon and a half of coffee and two teaspoons of sugar, depending on how violently I want to be woken up.
Step 3: Add just enough boiling water to dissolve the coffee and sugar.
Step 4: Add the ice to cool the boiling hot sludge you've just made.
Step 6: Pour into a bottle, or whatever you usually use to smuggle drinks into the library.
Step 7: Top up with milk. Shake well before drinking.

This tastes nicest when it's been chilled, but if you don't have a fridge you can take to the library, you can always just freeze a bit of water in the bottom of the bottle overnight to keep it cool. This stuff got me through a 40-hour day last week, though I was too wired to really think straight by the end of it. It's good for waking you up in the morning though - give it a try!

Here endeth the lesson and here beginneth the revision. Wish me luck!

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any accident, injury or mental incapacity sustained as a result of following any advice I may or may not give or have given on this blog or anywhere else. If you decide eight teaspoons of coffee in one of these is a good idea I will not be held responsible for the consequences, but please do leave a comment letting me know what they are - I'd love to hear about it!