If you spend much time on campus, it quickly becomes clear how important coffee is. When free food is passed out on the South Oval, it often includes coffee. The line at Starbucks in the Union is miles long at any given time of day. Luckily, I have the advantage of living right next to The Hive coffee shop at Cross. I can see it from my window, and all it takes is a quick trip down the stairs to have easy access to some “proudly served” Starbucks coffee. While OU Housing and Food is often short-staffed, I can always rely on The Hive to be full of eager student workers ready to give me that much-needed dose of caffeine.
Austin Hammons is one such worker. He is a freshman studying computer science, and he shared his campus coffee shop experience with me.
“I’ve never actually worked in foodservice,” he told me. “I’ve worked for the city, and I’ve worked construction.”
Austin does not even consider himself an avid coffee drinker. However, his experience working at The Hive has been a positive one. I asked him if he finds it difficult to balance work and school.
“It’s probably a better thing honestly,” he said. “It’s a learning thing with figuring out your time and your schedule.”
Austin expressed the fact that he feels this balancing act has been a good life skill to gain. Working on campus makes this easier.
“It’s only like a five-minute walk to get here….usually I have to get up at seven.”
The Hive opens at eight, which may seem late for a coffee shop, but this is college. It’s usually pretty empty when I choose to grab a drink right when it opens.
“Usually the morning time til probably like two, it’s really busy,” Austin described. “After that, it slows down, and after five, it’s really slow.”
After five is Austin’s favorite time to work.
Nevertheless, Austin is very good-natured about his job. I asked if there were any complicated drink orders he found particularly annoying, and he could not think of any. Some drinks he simply does not know how to make, but it is never a huge issue.
“There is usually always one person who knows how to do everything.”
There was a learning curve to making perfect coffee drinks, but it was not too difficult.
“It took me maybe two weeks to get down how to make all the drinks,” Austin reported. He described it as a “learn as you go” situation. The hardest part was learning how to close in the evenings and remembering everything that has to get cleaned.
Of course, Austin also has the inside scoop for the best secret menu items. One of his friends invented a drink called the White Rose.
“It’s hard to explain,” Austin prefaced, but he described it to me pretty well.
“Two carmel, two hazelnut, two salted shots, a line of sweet cream, fill the cup up with milk up to the third line, and then you put ice.”
The next part is more complex.
“Then you get two pumps of white mocha, pour hot water in it, dissolve it, stir it, and pour it over the drink.”
Admittedly, another Starbucks would probably have no idea what you meant if you ordered a White Rose, but to all you student Hive-lovers, this might be one to try!
