1858 is the name of Iowa State's new signature coffee. Try a cup for only $1 through Sept. 16 at most campus cafés. Photo by Bob Elbert.
Attention coffee connoisseurs: There's a new cup of joe available on campus that may tantalize your taste buds. Named for the year Iowa State was founded, 1858 replaces the Cardinal and Gold blend, which had been the university's signature coffee for the past several years.
Limited-time special
Through Sept. 16, Iowa State's new 1858 signature blend coffee is $1 at the campus cafés noted below.
A small team of ISU Dining staff worked with The Roasterie in Kansas City (founded by ISU alum Danny O'Neill) over the summer to come up with the new brew. The result is a fair trade organic coffee with a light to medium roast. It combines three coffee origins -- Mexican, Sumatra and Guatemalan. The "cupping" process, essentially a taste testing of different coffees, only took a day to hit the mark. Coming up with a name for the new blend, however, took a bit longer.
"Dining's marketing department brainstormed and came up with three different names," said Kristi Patel, assistant director of campus dining services. "From there, we did a survey among the ISU Dining staff, who chose 1858. We really wanted something to encompass Iowa State."
As ISU Dining program coordinator Brittney Rutherford puts it, "1858 is subtle. If you know what 1858 means, you're an Iowa Stater."
1858 is available as brewed coffee in the Bookends, Business, Courtyard, Design and Gentle Doctor cafés and the MU Market and Café. The coffee currently is not available as packaged beans or grounds, but that could change in the future, Patel said.
