Kelvin Whitehurst ~ Copy Desk Chief
If you haven’t noticed the construction going on at all of Lynchburg College’s grab-n-go food stops, there are a lot of changes being made to the school’s local eateries.
Most notable of all changes being made to LC’s dining services is Brewed Awakenings in Schewel Hall. Returning students who attended LC may be familiar with Brewed Awakenings being under the occupation of Starbucks, but it is now being remodeled to bring in a new look for a new year.
With the help of Shaun Dearden and Michael McNeill, co-directors of Dining Services, Lynchburg College has partnered with The Muse Coffee Company to occupy the space of Brewed Awakenings. Coming early this fall, it will be the spot to handle all of your Pumpkin Spice Latte addictions opening early in the semester.
Brian Wynn, owner of local coffee roaster, The Muse Coffee Company, has been in the business of coffee-making for eight years. With the experience that Wynn has in the coffee industry, he plans to bring innovations to the food scene in Schewel.
Students can expect beverages and foods ranging from coffee to baked goods. Don’t worry students, bagels will still be around!
And check this, remember those regular chocolate bars that you used to pick up at Brewed last year? Try and replace that now with new gourmet chocolate bars that The Muse is bringing to campus! If you couldn’t tell so far this year, the food scene in Schewel is going to be on top of it.
Unlike Starbucks that uses more automatic machines, Wynn brought in a new La Marzocco 4 Group semi-automatic espresso machine with the hopes of bringing in more “high quality barista fashion” espresso drinks. These machines do not come cheap by the way. Look it up yourself, these bad boys have a starting price of $10,000; you can practically pay off the average tuition with that to put it in perspective for you.
“These are hands down the best espresso machines in the world, top of the line,” said Eric Decker, espresso technician of Espresso Mechanica.
Dearden’s goal is to bring a “different offering, different concept and a new atmosphere” to the campus. Wynn assures that he will be able to bring that environment to the school by providing a new relaxed environment to begin fostering a community here at LC.
If you find yourself missing last year’s taste of Starbucks, don’t beat yourself up too much; Starbucks is not removed. Dearden did not forget about you!
New to On Common Grounds is an installation of a small coffee shop dedicated to Starbucks. Dearden’s hope is to have students making the best of Drysdale Student Center by having students be able to study while having a nice beverage or snack with them.
“We’re hoping to get some folks over here in Drysdale utilizing the study spaces here and on Sunday evenings getting a cup of Starbucks or a smoothie or snack or whatever,” Dearden explains.
Along with a new Starbucks Station installed at On Common Ground, there is also a cool new Coca-Cola Freestyle machine! You know, like the ones that dispense over 100 different flavors? Yeah. You can expect all of these additions to be opened to the campus by the first day of classes or early in the semester.
Enjoy your caffeine fix soon, Hornets!