With the ever-pressing urgency of homework due dates and cramming for exams, for many students, coffee is a must; and on-campus coffee shops Modero and Barefoots are responsible for feeding our coffee addiction.
The world of coffee is full of endless possibilities, and people like the fact that they can order something that isn’t necessarily on the menu. But if these things aren’t on the menu, then where are they? They must be on a secret menu that only a select number of people know about, right?
Well, the real secret isn’t the menu.
When people come in to order a drink, they want to be in complete control of that drink; and they are, but this process begins by being comfortable and open with your barista. Rather than a secret menu, some students have learned not to be afraid to talk to their barista and to enter the coffee shop knowing what’s in the drink they want. The barista may not know what a Red Velvet Frappuccino is, but they know what a Mocha and White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino with raspberry syrup is.
“We couldn’t put everything that we can make on the menu,” said Melissa Lieffers, barista and senior Spanish and linguistics major. “The menu would be too big.”
The members of the Modero and Barefoots team are not allowed to name any drinks that they create for the specific purpose of not excluding anyone from knowing all of their options. When they do get a new seasonal drink or syrup in, they try to advertise as much as they can so that people know about it.
Being knowledgeable about a drink is so much more than items on a secret menu; it’s knowing the drink and being able to talk to the barista about it.
Baristas at Modero and Barefoots want to make sure that their customers’ drinks are exactly what they want and that it tastes delicious.
“Everything that you’re putting in those drinks is purely Barefoots,” said Hannah Robertson, barista and junior social work major. “The drink that you’re getting is all you, and that’s exciting.”
