Coffee is one of the world’s great unifiers. Relationships have begun over a cup of coffee, friendships have been kindled due to a good chai latte and cafes often serve as the host of many heartfelt conversations. Since coffee holds such importance in our society, it is only right that Marquette invests in serving us the best of it.
A surefire way to bring people together while including city spirit is through coffee.
The Brew cafes are scattered across Marquette’s campus – in the Alumni Memorial Union, the “Brew at the Bridge” in Raynor Library, the Dental School, and the David J. Straz School of Business These cafes serve pastries, food and Starbucks products.
One great way to bring more of the spirit of Milwaukee to Marquette’s campus is to supply The Brew cafes with a local coffee roasting brand. The good news is that Milwaukee has several viable options.
The three top contenders of coffee that could be most suitable for Marquette Students include Stone Creek Coffee, Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. and Colectivo Coffee.
Erich Resch founded Stone Creek Coffee in Whitefish Bay in 1993, “built on the idea that we have an obligation to care for those around us.” Ever since, it has expanded to several locations in Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago and more.
Born a few years later in 1999, Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. boasts an “exceptional cup of coffee.” Now, the Walker’s Point location even puts on a lot of live music – uplifting local Milwaukee artists and drawing in large crowds. With quality coffee and good music, what more could you want?
Bonded over a “strong desire for a better cup of coffee,” Colectivo co-owners Ward, Paul and Lincoln created a booming business. The coffee may always be roasted in Riverwest, but it reaches far beyond there.
Marquette students can enjoy visiting a variety of coffee shop locations around the city that carry these products, but it would be even better if they were offered to students on campus at The Brew cafes.
Stone Creek Coffee is served in all of the campus dining halls for students to enjoy, but this can exclude students who do not have a meal plan for the school.
Whether it be Stone Creek, Anodyne or Colectivo, Marquette should include local coffee roasting products in the Brew cafes so that any and all students can enjoy it. Starbucks can be purchased nearly anywhere in the country, but for many, coffee from places like Stone Creek, Anodyne and Colectivo may be an experience unique to Milwaukee.
In addition to these, there are a lot of smaller local coffee joints that deserve our attention.
Some of these coffee shops include Interval MKE, Canary Coffee Bar and Pilcrow Coffee. All of which have their own unique specialties that could be promoted on Marquette’s campus.
An innovative idea the university could adopt is finding alternative ways to promote these local businesses on campus. They could do this by hosting the coffee shops to serve on campus in conjunction with other Marquette affiliated events like they have with Pete’s Pops or Shake Shack. This way, students can familiarize themselves with a variety of local coffee businesses rather than being stuck with just the nearby Starbucks location.
Another great way for students to broaden their view when it comes to coffee would be to join “Just Brew It” – Marquette’s coffee club. This organization brings student coffee lovers together to sample and test out different shops around the city. It’s a wonderful way to combine human connection and caffeine together.
It is important that the heart of Milwaukee is kept alive at Marquette’s campus. Coffee may seem like a simple, trivial issue, but uplifting local businesses and creating an authentic experience of the city for students who come from far and wide is important.
This story was written by Grace Cady. She can be reached at [email protected].
