I knew there was something missing from El Camino when I drove up the 405 to a Costco to get some peace and quiet — a $1.45 blended latte.

There’s really no quiet place around campus to get a decent cold cup of coffee and some quiet time.

The only decent cold coffee in walking distance is McDonald’s, and that place is never quiet.

The nearest Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf require a car, and both are pricey when you’re on a budget.

Now why should anyone care about adding expensive coffee joints in the neighborhood — isn’t there enough Starbucks in the world?

Yes on the Starbucks part, but there is always a need around a college campus for a place of quiet and tasty caffeine that isn’t Mountain Dew or Red Bull.

What about on campus options like Cafe Camino?

Charging $3.99 — more than McDonald’s — for a chalky-tasting blended mocha with an uneven composition and flavor (watery one icy chunk, overpoweringly sweet the next) that took a literal hour to finish as it melted into a mess isn’t a good buy.

What about the Monster coffee drinks or Dunkin’ Donuts bottles for sale on campus? The cans of the former can easily spill in a classroom; the latter is too expensive for too little.

What about that caffeine shop across the street from campus?

Sorry folks, caffeine’s closed; the cobwebs in the front window should’ve told you. Yelp comments indicate it closed around 2008.

So what goes there, or to any empty business spot near the campus?

It doesn’t have to be another Starbucks — there are plenty of coffee chain competitors.

Even a boba business like Honeyboba, which often have coffee drinks somewhere among dozens of concoctions, would be welcome.

Nor does it have to be a chain.

An independent boba or coffee shop as audacious and funky as Unurban — a hippie-esque place near Santa Monica College with worn sofas, drinks served in what could double as soup bowls and featuring local poets, comedians and bands performing on some nights — would probably be a win in this neighborhood, if not with the students and faculty.

A place to relax, recharge with a cold caffeinated coffee or a boba drink and maybe do some homework on a laptop.

Is that too much to ask for?