School spirit may have never tasted so good.
A pair of Biola alumni in the artisanal coffee roasting business have teamed up with the university to launch the Biola Blend, a specialty blend of beans that鈥檚 now being served on campus and sold online.
The coffee collaboration with Rose Park Roasters 鈥 founded by Andrew Phillips (B.A. 鈥03, M.A. 鈥08) and Nathan Tourtellotte (B.A. 鈥04) 鈥 made its debut at the university鈥檚 117th birthday celebration on Feb. 25 after weeks of conversation, taste-testing and voting by current students. To help select the beans, a group of students from the Biola Coffee Lovers Club visited Rose Park鈥檚 headquarters in Long Beach, California, for a cupping and inside look at the company鈥檚 bean sourcing and roasting process.
After the coffee connoisseurs selected two finalists, the broader Biola community voted on the winning blend of beans 鈥 along with a tagline: Grounded in Truth Since 1908.
Sporting a custom red label, the blend features medium- light roasted beans from growers in Brazil, offering 鈥渁 balanced profile with bright acidity, subtle fruit notes and a full-bodied finish.鈥 It鈥檚 served on campus in Common Grounds and available to buy at biola.edu/biola-blend.
For Phillips, who served up thousands of cups of coffee during his days as a college student, returning to Biola with his own business鈥 beans is a special opportunity, he said.
鈥淚 was an assistant manager at Common Grounds,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o to offer something at Biola is a real fun experience for me.鈥