The Grind coffee shop opened its third on-campus location Oct. 17, offering beverages and bakery on the first floor of Sandburg Hall.

The new establishment kicked off with a three-day trial period featuring free drinks and bakery samples to introduce dorm residents to the Grind’s products.

The Sandburg Grind caters mostly to dorm residents, who may pick up a coffee drink or a cookie on the way to or from class, said manager Tony Ciske. He said the most popular drink is the turtle mocha.

“Coffee culture is popular amongst younger people,” Ciske said.

However, he said that the shop sells very little straight coffee.

“I hear a lot that they want a drink that doesn’t taste like coffee, or tastes as little like coffee as possible,” Ciske said. He said that coffee is an acquired taste and that more of the customers will learn to like straight coffee with time.

Students who live in the dorms said that they benefit from the convenience of the coffee shop’s location, but some limit their consumption because of the Grind’s prices.

Jim Dabringer, a freshman living in South Tower, said that he spends $20 or $30 a week at the Grind.

“I love it, because I used to have to run to the Union to get (coffee drinks),” he said. “Now I can just come right down here. It’s convenient.”

Dabringer compared the Grind to Starbucks, saying that both offer handmade coffee drinks.

“It’s handmade, and that’s what makes a drink this expensive,” he said. “Handmade is always better.”

Sophomore and North Tower resident Katie Bodner said that she goes to the Sandburg Grind about once a week, but usually makes her own coffee because it’s cheaper. However, she doesn’t think that the Grind overcharges for its drinks.

“I think it’s about the same price as going to a coffee shop,” she said. “It’s what you’d expect.”

Ellen Anderson, a sophomore who lives in East Tower, says that she patronizes the Sandburg Grind frequently, about once a day.

“It’s great,” she said. “It’s more convenient (than the Union or the library) because I live here.”

The Sandburg shop is still in its infancy and Ciske said that he’s still learning to run the shop, which is staffed by a crew about half-composed of Sandburg Hall residents.

“Right now, we’re just mainly concentrating on the shop itself,” he said. “(We’re) trying to get all the drinks made correctly, getting everybody familiar with the product and how to prepare it.”

Ciske also said that many students are still unfamiliar with the drinks the Grind offers and stressed that students should not hesitate to ask employees about the products. He also praised the students who work alongside him in the shop, making sure that everyone knows that the Grind is a team effort.

“I have a really cool staff of people and I’m really fortunate to get to work with a lot of these people,” he said. “They need to get some props.”

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