Dear Joe: Cafe and Bakery is one of three newly established dining spots in the newly renovated Nittany Lion Inn. The cafe features an extensive menu of specialty coffees, house-made pastries, and a variety of grab-and-go food options.

The new cafe also features Ripple technology, allowing customers to upload a picture from their camera roll that gets turned into a foam design on their latte.

With plenty of study spots and a variety of tempting menu items to explore, our staff made their way to the Inn to check it out firsthand.

Ally Eaton: Latte With French Vanilla & Almond Milk, & A Blueberry Lemon Sugar Muffin

I made the trek to Dear Joe on a rainy morning, and it was well worth my while. I had heard about the foam designs and was eager to try them out for the top of my latte.

In a panic, I decided to use a picture of James Franklin’s face that I had taken this past weekend. The design came out crystal clear and elevated what would have otherwise been a normal coffee. As for the taste of the coffee, it was sweetened to the perfect amount and had the perfect coffee notes, not too bitter and not too bland.

I also decided to go back up and purchase a muffin, which was fairly average. It was a little dry, but the blueberry-lemon combination was fresh and light. The atmosphere of the coffee shop and inn in general were unmatched and I will definitely be returning to try new things and study here!

Evan Halfen: Pumpkin Spice Latte With Oat Milk & My Face

After hearing that Dear Joe offers customized foam designs, I was immediately intrigued. As an avid coffee drinker and caffeine addict, I had never heard of anything like it and knew I had to try it for myself.

Once I got there, I was immediately overwhelmed by all the syrup options and, of course, deciding what picture I wanted as my foam design. Eventually, I found a cute picture of myself and uploaded it to the Ripple machine.

After the barista made my hot latte, it was time for the machine to do its thing and plaster my face into a cup of coffee. A few minutes later, I received my coffee and was honestly surprised about how detailed and spot-on the quality was. After taking a few sips of my nice, hot cup of Evan, I knew I would be back for more.

The latte itself was really yummy and perfect for a rainy fall day. For only $6, got my face on a great quality pumpkin latte — what a bargain!

Ericka Apolskis: Latte With French Vanilla & Almond Milk With The Nittany Lion On It

I love any and all things involving coffee. So, Dear Joe opening only a 10-minute walk from my apartment made it easy for me to try it out.

I ordered a hot latte, which is so unlike me, with French vanilla and almond milk. Oh, and also a photo I took of the Nittany Lion was printed on the foam of my coffee for the same price as no picture, so of course, I chose to put the picture. If you squint you can definitely see it… I think.

The coffee was perfect — I have no critiques and will definitely be ordering it again. I also got a coffee cake muffin. However, it was pretty dry and cold. I brought it back to my apartment and heated it up, making it taste 10x better. But for now, I will just stick to the coffee.

Aidan Conrad: Iced Coffee & Banana Sticky Bun

My iced coffee tasted good, but it seemed that it was just hot coffee with ice thrown in it, as it was still slightly warm when I took my first sip. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the sticky bun, as it didn’t seem as fresh as it could have been. I’ll definitely find myself back there though as it’s a quiet place, making it a great place to study.

Kyra Birmingham: Caramel Latte & Sticky Bun

I got a caramel latte and an original sticky bun. The latte was so, so good and perfect for the cold and rainy day. The sticky bun was OK, a little dry, but I still ate the whole thing. I will definitely be back.

Joe Lister: Latte With Onward State’s Nolan Wick On It

Before I went to Dear Joe, I had heard all about the lattes with people’s faces on them. I don’t like lattes, but I had to try this fascinating idea.

After figuring out the putting-someone’s-face-on-a-coffee system, I scoured through my camera roll to find an appropriate image to place on my latte. Finally, I settled on a picture I took of Onward State staffer Nolan Wick absolutely devouring a sandwich at this Panera Bread in Ohio.

Unfortunately, Nolan did not taste good.

Maybe I’m just stuck in my ways and refuse to take my coffee any way other than black, but I have a hard time thinking I’ll be drinking people’s faces at Dear Joe again.