By Laurie Merrill
GCU News Bureau
The new monsoon menu has taken the Grand Canyon Beverage Company by storm.
New specialties such as the Dirty Pumpkin, CinnaBomb and Coconut Dream are drawing larger crowds to the second floor of the Student Union.
“We wanted to have drinks that resemble Arizona,” said Parker Shipe, one of four student managers. “We wanted the menu to have a kick, like a sandstorm.”
Boy, did they succeed.
Of all the new drinks — which also include the Lightning, Candy Cane Crush, Bee Sting and Coco-Mocha — the one that most blows people away, Shipe said, is the Haboob.
This powerful punch includes shots of espresso with vanilla and hazelnut swirled with caramel drizzle and only comes in the 24-ounce size.
When one is ordered, an employee shouts, “Baristas! A storm is coming!” and then they all yell and pound on the bar.
“I was honestly a little scared the first time I heard it,” freshman Amanda Sheble said. “I was wondering, why are they yelling?”
She couldn’t help but order one on Friday afternoon.
“It’s really, really good,” she said.
Sophomore Beau Perry, who was waiting on line when the Haboob “warning” was sounded, didn’t find it scary in the least.
“It had a lot of energy,” he said.
Manager Brennan Williams said the Haboob drink is going gangbusters.
“It tastes great because it has lots of espresso and lots of vanilla and hazelnut and caramel, enough to last you three days,” Williams said. “It’s definitely a fan favorite.”
Contact Laurie Merrill at (602) 639-6511 or [email protected].
