At the end of the fall semester of 2021, Mojo’s, the campus coffee shop located in the Schultz student center announced they would be selling Mojo’s to Reverie Roasters, a Wichita based coffee roastery. This has piqued a lot of interest on campus.
One of the largest changes made by Reverie Roasters was an overhaul of the old menu. For one, it has been cut nearly in half, limiting the options available. Some would say this makes the decision making process a lot less difficult, but for others, their favorite items haven’t returned.
“I miss Mojo’s fun seasonal drinks that had lots of sweet syrups. I also miss having the 12 oz option for iced drinks because sometimes I don't need 16 oz or I don't want to pay for 16 oz when I just need a quick afternoon pick-me-up,” Annie Carlson, senior from Freeman, SD, said.
In regards to food items, Reverie Roasters is still selling items from the Mojo’s Bakehouse until their own products can be brought 100% fresh from their scratch kitchen and bakery in Wichita. Some Reverie items can already be purchased, like their homemade hand pies. The Mojo’s menu may have been cut back, but Reverie Roasters has big plans for dessert.
“In time, our goal is to provide daily delivery of our pastries…butter croissants, pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant), ham and cheese croissant and fruit and savory Danishes…And our rye chocolate chip cookie is probably the best cookie on the planet. But don’t take my word for it,” Andrew Gough, founder and owner of Reverie Roasters said.
Reverie Roasters is excited to share their commitment to using locally sourced ingredients with the campus community.
“We don’t just say we ‘love’ or ‘buy’ local. We mean it. We’ve actually coined a term ‘demonstrating localism’, which is a written guide for what it truly means when we say local,” Gough said.
Reverie Roasters hopes to soon declare up to 75% of their ingredients come from within a one-hundred mile radius of Wichita, including milk from Hildebrand Farms Dairy in Junction City, and seasonal veggies and fruit from Strong Roots Healthy Farming in Valley Center.
Reverie Roasters also makes nearly all of their syrup flavors in house, such as mocha, pistachio, rosemary salted caramel and a few fruit flavors for their Italian sodas.
“We tend to have fewer options, but knockouts that are indicative of our interest in quality and uniqueness. We tend to rotate seasonal specials in and out throughout the year to keep the inventory of product fresh. Because we don’t use products with preservatives, we have an extremely short shelf life for many of our ingredients and smaller menus are crucial to keep supply from timing out,” Gough said.
Unfortunately, this commitment comes with a cost. In order to afford so many local ingredients, the prices of all their merchandise had to be raised from the previously-owned Mojos. Reverie Roasters feels this is a necessary sacrifice to make in order to pay their employees well and maintain this standard of excellence in their ingredients.
Visitors might notice some aesthetic changes, mainly updating of the front bar, new furniture, and fresh paint highlighting the stage area. Reverie Roasters hopes to start hosting live events in the evening with extended hours, but it is dependent on staffing and Covid-19 challenges.
In the meantime, Reverie will be exhibiting a local artist’s work every month. The months of January and February feature copper work by Glen Ediger, a Bethel college alum!
Reverie Roasters Mojo’s will still be using the online platform with ordering capabilities and the Bubbert’s sign still remains on the back wall in homage to how Mojos began.
“We’re excited to be a part of the school family and a neighbor to the community. Mojo’s definitely created some big shoes and we are trying to fill them. Our hope is that we can make the shoes even bigger as we take this location on a journey into the next decade. We just ask that customers consider our mission (to precipitate positivity within our communities) and decide how they can help us to accomplish this together,” Gough said.
