Online buzz about custom coffee offered at the Barge Canal Coffee Co. - Colgate University's downtown coffeehouse -- has stoked sales of the roasted blend.
Java-lovers from around the nation have been taking advantage of a collaborative effort between the Barge and Colgate Bookstore that has resulted in easy online ordering.
The buzz about the brew began in late November, when Peter King, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, wrote about the delicious Colgate University Blend in his popular "Monday Morning Quarterback" column that appears on SI.com.
A huge coffee fan, King also wrote about the Colgate coffee on the coffeenerdness blog.
He's had lots of opportunities to sample the java as his daughter, Mary Beth King, is a senior at Colgate who works at the Barge. The columnist has written about Colgate several times in the past, extolling the Colgate "experience" and the beauty of its campus.
King's mentions of the coffee led to numerous phone calls and e-mails to Judy Schenk, manager of the Barge. She and Roger Bauman, president of the Hamilton Initiative who oversees the Barge, went looking for a way to sell the coffee online.
They contacted the bookstore's Linda Gregory, who handles merchandise sales, and Marty Bair, marketing manager. The bookstore has long been able to handle secure online sales, and Bair was able to quickly add a page for the Barge.
In his Dec. 24 column, King talked again about the Colgate University Blend:
"By the by, you can now purchase some of the best dark coffee out there, Colgate Blend, online through the Colgate bookstore. I recommend it very highly. It's Italian roast in its intensity. If you care: http://colgatebookstore.com/gifts/2007/12/bcoffee.html"
Once that web link got out there, Bair said orders jumped. More than 20 coffee orders came in from Dec. 24 to Dec. 27.
"It was truly amazing," said Bair. "And it was interesting that people didn't want to wait for it; they requested next-day or second-day shipping so they could taste it right away."
Schenk said the coffee blend has been around for about six years. It was developed by the Barge's vendor, Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters, after Schenk had conducted a long series of taste tests with students.
"We mixed and matched a lot of beans until we found the one that students just loved," she said.
She has been amazed by the attention brewed by King, who briefly mentioned the Colgate coffee in four different columns.
"It blows me away; we've never had this happen before," she said. "We're thrilled."