Sylvia Holsen, Features Editor

Last week, popular on-campus coffee and bagel stop Einstein Bros. Bagels was officially upgraded to a new Einstein’s/Caribou hybrid that sells the bagels from the former and the coffee from the latter. This move has excited the student body who overran the coffee shop on its first day open, overwhelming the baristas who were still learning to make Caribou beverages.

While Einstein’s old roasts of coffee are still available from their usual heated containers until supplies run out, the new Caribou menu includes signature Caribou drinks such as the Caramel High Rise, Vanilla White Mocha and Caribou Cooler as well as smoothies, teas and other coffee shop favorites. The new menu’s prices are similar to those of Einstein Bros. coffee drinks from before but offer more variety and, at least according to Caribou fans, better coffee.

The merger comes on the heels of Einstein’s and Caribou’s merger in 2015 when the two companies merged under the name of Coffee and Bagel Brands. This merger also includes Bruegger’s Bagels, who joined in 2017, and Manhattan Bagels and Noah’s NY Bagels. According to the “Denver Post,” over 42 “merged” locations like the one in Christensen have opened since the franchises joined together.

While the Einstein’s coffee menu has been superseded by the new Caribou menu, the bagel menu remains unchanged. Students can still use meal replacements to purchase a bagel and a cup of coffee, but whether the coffee will eventually become a Caribou blend remains to be seen. For now, the hype around the expansion appears to have died down somewhat, and students are frequenting Einstein’s about as much as they used to.

Caribou Coffee is a Minnesota-based coffee chain with hundreds of locations nationwide. It is the most popular coffee chain in the state, and there are 280 Caribou locations in Minnesota. Einstein Bros. Bagels is a bagel company that also sells coffee and sandwiches. It is based out of Lakewood, Colorado, and was originally founded by Boston Market as a way to sell breakfast food.

Einstein’s/Caribou is open from 7:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. through 8 p.m. on Fridays, from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturdays and is closed on Sundays. Students can spend meal credits or flex points to purchase food and drink from the location. They also accept real money.

This article first appeared in the Friday, April 13, Edition of The Echo.