It's not a Tufts sweatshirt or key chain, but it's a trademark nonetheless. It's red with a white top, and it bears a picture of Earl and that speedy character. And inside, there could be anything: hot chocolate, any flavor of tea, chai this, or mocha that.
It's a cup of joe and all over this campus, in the hands of students and teachers, it screams: "I was just at Brown and Brew, Tufts' on-campus coffee house."
Brown and Brew has made a home for itself in Curtis Hall, a building that used to store carriages and buggies before the advent of the espresso machine. Today, you pass the coffee shop going or coming from the gym or the computer science building. You can spy it from the top of Memorial Steps, and it draws customers from all over campus.
Maybe you go to study on the couches (or for an unexpected nap), talk, eat, and listen to the radio or sometimes a band. Maybe you go for a game of Scrabble or backgammon. Maybe you go just to get one of those red cups that everyone's carrying around these days. In either case, you're probably reluctant to leave.
"The coffee is better here than anywhere else on campus," junior Monika Melendez said, tilting her head back for a long sip.
"I like it here," sophomore Jake Cohen agreed. "I'm a big fan of the couches and the chai. It's easy going."
Students may like Brown and Brew so much because its interior design involved student input and the coffee shop is largely student-run. Under the direction of manager David Ford, who has doubled Brown and Brew's business since his arrival last fall, happier faces abound. Just as the customers leave pleased, on the other side of the counter, employees behind the register feel rewarded. Mike Coughlin has worked at Brown and Brew for one year and now serves as a student supervisor. "It's the best on-campus job that I can imagine having. The people are awesome and the place is so much fun. I'm definitely going to stick around," he said.
Sophomore Apolonia Panagopoulos is a second-year Brown and Brew employee. "One of the coolest things about working here is that the nights are exclusively student-run. Dave's still the boss but he's not here, so we take care of everything ourselves and it is really efficient, everyone is really laid-back but professional," she said. "I think that's really great - it shows how responsible students can be."
In her time at Brown and Brew, Panagopoulos has noticed the business flourish. "I think we try to be very accommodating and Dave is always open to suggestions. He's constantly asking us if we have any ideas and is really into improving the place," she said, adding, "some of the changes to the Brew as a result of student input are soy and Lactaid milks, more 'real' food, more sushi."
In Dining Services, directed by Patti Lee Klos, the shop's future is a hot topic. "We want every dining locale on campus to be unique and distinct. The Brown and Brew gives us the opportunity to market different products that are more upscale, more unusual, and not available anywhere else at Tufts. David has shown a lot of enthusiasm for new foods and presentation," Lee Klos said.
The Brown and Brew plans to continue innovating. The shop anticipates adding a line of ice cream, an outside patio, a Boston Ave. entrance, and rearranging the furniture.
While the Brown and Brew runs smoothly backstage, it also has a devoted following onstage - literally. After the homework is done and the hectic crowd has dispersed, the convenient coffee shop often unwinds for a musically good time. At the end of the week, as well as on some weeknights, Brown and Brew becomes a music venue and invites local and Tufts bands and performers to the mic.
Sophomore Cohen, a musician, said that he would like Brown and Brew patrons to pay closer attention to the music. "I think the jazz here is really great but I wish it were treated more seriously. It would be such an attractive gig for up-and-coming musicians, but not enough people know about it," he said. "When there's a band here, people consider it background music and that's discouraging - it's not the right attitude for a concert space."
