Recently, increased caffeine intake has led to an increase in caffeine addiction and withdrawal symptoms. Coffee is surreptitiously consumed in as an additive to milk and caramel. There are few studies on how coffee affects the health of modern people. The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy and side effects of coffee by awareness of coffee consumption patterns among college students, who are the principal consumers. A survey was conducted from May 11 to 17, 2015 and 302 questionnaires were analyzed. The respondents were 140 men (46.4%) and 162 women (53.6%). In terms of coffee additives, 151 (50.0%) respondents chose ‘americano’ and 111 (36.8%) ‘variation’. The frequency of coffee intake and sleep time for college students was negatively correlated, with the correlation coefficient of -0.145 and significance probability of 0.019. The group that was ‘positively’ aware of the principal ingredients of coffee had a higher level of academic training than those with ‘negative’ awareness (p=0.000). Women recognized a larger number of side effects than men: 1.99 and 1.36, respectively, on average (p=0.001). ‘Time for consumption’ had statistically significant effects on the side effects of coffee consumption: consumption before/after lunch, before/after supper and before going to bed led to 0.4 times (p=0.048) and 0.3 times (p=0.023) more side effects, respectively, than consuming coffee after getting up and before/ after breakfast. Excessive caffeine intake through coffee led to limited sleep time and poorer learning concentration. The guidelines for proper coffee consumption should be created to help students consume coffee properly so that it will not affect sleep, learning concentration or adversely affect health.