In light of the limits placed on the NMU campus coffee industry this year, The North Wind staff conducted a blind coffee taste test on Monday, Nov. 17 to see where student coffee preference might fall.
The “Battle of the Brews” was designed to gather student opinion on campus coffee options.
Three staff members from The North Wind arranged to offer samples of black coffee to students passing by the Jamrich Hall ticket booth. The three varieties of coffee offered were Starbucks’ Pike Place Blend, Stone Creek’s eponymous brew and some home-ground and brewed Eight O’Clock blonde roast. In order to keep the test as fair as possible, students were not informed of where each sample was from until they had written down their rankings.
After collecting 30 surveys in two hours, the responses showed that Stone Creek had edged out the competition. The home-brewed coffee scored an average 5.3 out of 10, Starbucks scored a 5.7 and Stone Creek ended up with a score of 7.3.
Most students couldn’t correctly identify any of the coffees, implying that neither Starbucks nor Stone Creek had a taste distinctive enough to be immediately recognizable nor garner preference.
Visit The North Wind’s Facebook page to watch video footage of the blind taste test.
The North Wind is seeking student input on this topic. Write to the editor’s desk and share your opinions about NMU’s coffee conundrum.
Contributing: Analicia Honkanen and Mike Klarin
