Sam Macrides ’18 and Anabelle Wondrasch ’18: In response to a large number of students leaving campus for coffee, Episcopal faculty and staff have come up with an on-campus fix: a coffee bar. Head of Upper School Mike Letts emphasizes, “If we can provide [students] with opportunities to stay on campus, that’s in our best interest.”
The project is currently past its research phase but the coffee machines themselves have yet to be purchased. Mark Notaro, Director of Operations, elaborates, “There are a couple of machines that we’ve tested out that can do a regular cup of coffee but can also do an espresso or cappuccino style drink.” He continues, “We’ve investigated schools in the area and are seeing what kind of products are successful there, whether it be regular coffee or specialty drinks”.
Along with the necessity of choosing the right machines and products, the actual location of the coffee bar provides its own unique challenge.
“In the next few weeks, we should see more renderings from the architect showing the idea for this project. However nothing can begin until we have secured a large chunk of time when students aren’t in school” explains Letts.
With such a large-scale campus center renovation project, Notaro says, “Major construction would happen next summer as there simply is not enough time during the school year to go into the campus center and do a major demolition. We are still trying to find the perfect permanent location that will minimize traffic and allow it to stay open throughout the entire day so as many people as possible can enjoy it”.
Letts adds, “The coffee servery will probably include some of the area where you see the ovens and prep tables in the kitchen. We plan on extending that all further back, making it bigger and hopefully less crowded.”
The final product of this coffee bar may seem a far way out in the future, but coffee itself at EA is coming soon. Notaro explains, “For this year we have been brainstorming a spot to sell coffee. Mr. Familetti had the good idea of starting off with a cart in the dining hall during non-lunch hours, then discontinuing it during lunch because it’s just not feasible to have it in there with the lunch traffic, and then reopening when things have settled down.”
This cart would bring in high quality bean coffee (management is currently leaning towards the brand La Colombe), grind it here at EA, and then serve it in the various drinks that EA’s current machines can make. Notaro plans to incentivize the coffee because “EA would try to be competitive with the coffee chains, so it would be no more expensive than shops like Starbucks. In reality we want to try to make it a bit cheaper.”
Spencer Higgins ‘18, an ardent coffee drinker in his own right, provides his own insight, says, “I am very open to the idea. It would be much more convenient because I wouldn’t have to stop on the way to school to get coffee.”
EA would also offer a discount program, as “offering a discounted price for people who bring their own reusable mugs and cups can add up to a lot of savings for someone who drinks a lot of coffee”. Moving away from the expensive and ecologically harmful K-cups used in Keurig machines, Notaro anticipates that Episcopal “won’t have nearly as much waste. We are already trying to figure out ways to incorporate coffee grounds into compost”
And for those who aren’t avid coffee drinkers?
Letts explains, “There is a hope that next year we will be able to expand the coffee bar to include smoothies as well for those who aren’t big fans of coffee.”