Clubs participate in coffee contest
Clemens Perk hosts their own Perk Madness, a coffee competition for clubs inspired by March Madness.
The College of St. Benedict is in the midst of an intense coffee-based competition.
Perk Madness, a bracket-style tournament modeled after March Madness, began a week before spring break at Clemens Perk.
Clubs, ranging from the Pseudonym Club to the Climate Justice club, entered a flavored latte with a themed name into the bracket. Each club receives points and the opportunity to advance with each purchase of their specialty drink.
“Every time someone orders a drink the baristas keep track,” said Jillian Neudahl, the Perk Marketing Manager and CSB sophomore. “I initially sent a form out to all the clubs I knew of or could find on the CSB/SJU website. They filled it out and were entered in the competition.”
A total of 18 clubs sponsored drinks. Many include flavors and names based on the club’s mission. The Nutrition Club named their English toffee and cinnamon latte Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Extending the Link coined their white chocolate, caramel and vanilla latte Extended Sweetness. The Indigenous Student Association named their hazelnut and cinnamon latte Smoke Signals.
“Different clubs have traditions with their drinks, like Square One, which always does an Irish Cream latte in March,” said the Perk Operating Manager and CSB sophomore Clair Moonen. “I order about 16 different flavors of syrups from our vendor and the clubs get a list of what we have in stock and pick what they want to name it.”
For many students, this annual tradition may be unfamiliar. Due to COVID, the Perk Madness tournament was canceled last year.
“It was something done in the past and it sounded fun,” Neudahl said.
One significant change made by Neudahl was a focus on lattes only.
“Limiting it to flavored lattes makes it easier on the baristas as opposed to flavored matcha or chai,” Neudahl said.
The club drink names and recipes are displayed on a bulletin at The Perk so students can pick which one they would like to order.
“The symbol for women is called Venus, so we named our drink after that,” said Insitute for Women’s Leadership Social Justice Coordinator and CSB sophomore Alexie Horner. “Getting coffee has been our thing. We thought it would be super cute to put a drink forward for the girls.”
Horner chose to make the Venus latte with toasted marshmallow and white chocolate after her favorite coffee.
CSB lacrosse chose to stick with a lacrosse reference for their drink.
“We wanted to name it something lacrosse-related,” said CSB lacrosse team member Moonen. “We went with Top Shelf S’mores because opponents always try to score on the top shelf of the goal.”
Perk Madness gives clubs the opportunity to promote their organizations.
“I like Perk Madness because it helps boost clubs and promote collaboration,” Moonen said. “It’s a tradition that’s been long been overdue.”
With the first round of clubs advancing last week, the competition is getting smaller. Perk Madness will last until the first week of April.
The entire bracket can be viewed at Clemens Perk. The winning club members will receive a free drink at the Perk.
“It’s a way for different clubs to get their names out there in a fun way,” Neudahl said. “Come to the Perk to purchase drinks and support clubs.”
