Icy Treats Beat Summer Heat

With the closing of the popular Gaia Juices bar in Loker Commons, Harvard summer school students must venture outside the Yard to find a cold blast of refreshment after their grueling classes.

Thankfully, frozen, iced and blended concoctions abound in the Square, offering the thirsty student a range of choices packed with fruit, nutritional supplements or the allimportant caffeine jolt.

The Buck Stops Here

Starbucks is best known for its strong coffee, but the Seattle-based chain has branched out in the past few years, securing a niche in the summer market with several cold blended beverages.

This season Starbucks has introduced Caramel and Rhumba Frappuccinos, new flavors of their popular frozen coffee and milk beverage, the Frappuccino. Although the so-called "cocoa-ey coffee cookie bits" in the Rhumba Frappucino can be a bit too large to fit through the straw, it is definitely worth a try.

Also new at Starbucks is the Tiazzi and Cream, a blend of cold tea, ice, fruit juice and cream. Still available are the traditional Tiazzi juiced tea drinks Starbucks introduced last summer. Each Tiazzi comes in three flavors, most of which are combinations of orange, mango and assorted berries.

Starbucks also sells bottled Frappuccinos and Tazo iced tea, but the packaged varieties cannot match a trip to one of the Square's three branches--on Church Street, Broadway and in the Garage--for the real thing.

Sticking With the Classics

Life at Harvard would not be complete without the occasional trip to Au Bon Pain, located at the center of the Square. And "ABP," as savvy Harvard students quickly learn to call the Square's only fast-food joint, produces a summer menu that does not disappoint.

One of the most popular Au Bon Pain items this season is the Frozen Mocha Blast, a creamy blend of coffee, ice, mocha and milk not to be confused with the Iced Mocha Blast. The latter contains similar ingredients, but unlike the iced drink's ingredients are not blended and can be mixed to include flavor shots of any variety.

Also new at Au Bon Pain this summer are frozen lemonade and frozen raspberry lemonade. Both are blended icy lemonade drinks that are kept at a cool slushy consistency. Though very sweet, both drinks have the added perk of being caffeine free.

Thirty-One Flavors and Then Some

Baskin Robbins is not just ice cream any more. This summer, the home of the 31 flavors has introduced the new Real Fruit Smoothies. Though primarily a shockingly sweet blend of corn syrup and ice, they can be surprisingly refreshing on hot summer days.

The smoothies, proclaimed the "smart treat" on the Baskin Robbins menu, come in four varieties: Berries Gone Banana, Passion for Peach, Very Strawberry and Aloha Berry Banana--all with Baskin Robbins' special ingredient, the so-called "Juice Splash."

If you're feeling adventurous, almost any type of fruit, from blueberries to strawberries to peaches, can be substituted for any of the smoothie ingredients.

Though the smoothies do not pack quite the health-conscious punch their name suggests, their inventive names and fruity flavor make them satisfying and enjoyable.

To Wrap It Up...

The Wrap and Smoothie Joint, located at 71 Mount Auburn St., offers some of the most innovative summer drinks in the Square.

They offer six classic summer smoothies, including as the Tropical Treasure and the Cape Codder as well as five "Smoothies with a Purpose." A "purpose," in Wrap-speak, is a nutritional additive, such as ginkgo, lecithin, ginseng, protein vita-mix or nutritional yeast. Smoothies like the "Athlete's Advantage" and "Adam's Rocket Fuel" promise energy and hydration to thirsty customers.

The Wrap offers by far the most healthful summer beverages. In addition to one free "purpose" element, others can be added for 50 cents each. And all smoothies can be made without dairy products on request.

Let's face it--summer in the city is hot. At those all-important times of the day, Annenberg Hall is invariably closed. So head outside the iron gates where a new world of fun in the summer sun awaits. Keep your cool.