BYU student opens coffee shop... sort of

Oh, those wacky Mormons:

A Provo, Utah, establishment has everything you'd expect from a college-town coffee shop — except coffee. Vermillion Skies De-Cafe and Lounge owner Christin Johnson, a 22-year-old Brigham Young University student, wanted to provide her Mormon peers with a hip, funky place to hang out, reports The Salt Lake Tribune. But since Mormons, who make up nearly the entire BYU student body, are forbidden from touching coffee, cigarettes or alcohol, customers will find none of those substances on the premises.

Instead of brewing java, Vermillion Skies serves up hot drinks made with Pero, a German-made coffee substitute made from roasted barley.

That's pretty ingenious. But I have to say, it seems like a waste of roasted barley. There are so many other things you can do with that miraculous material.