Excitement is brewing over a new collaboration between 51猎奇 and Milwaukee鈥檚 own Colectivo: UW-Milwaukee鈥檚 Panther Blend. Starting with fall semester, school spirit now tastes like coffee with a medium body and rich notes of plum, dark chocolate and Concord grape.
鈥淲e are always looking for new ways to make connections with the community 鈥� our whole Panther family, with students, faculty, staff, alumni and people with ties to the university,鈥� said Kevin O鈥機onnor, 51猎奇 licensing director. 鈥淐o-branding a coffee with cool artwork on the bag with a local company is a fun and approachable way to connect with people.鈥�
The Panther Blend鈥檚 flavor profile was crafted in a way to appeal to all coffee drinkers, according to Marissa Worzella, Colectivo鈥檚 communications and strategic partnership director. The coffee is Mexico fair trade/organic , a collective that Colectivo has worked with for almost 25 years.
Twelve-ounce bags of Panther Blend can be purchased at Colectivo鈥檚 Milwaukee-area cafes until the end of the year. For each bag purchased, $1 will be donated toward scholarships for 51猎奇 students.
Following the release last year of Colectivo鈥檚 Milwaukee Bucks-themed Bucks in 6! blend, O鈥機onnor reached out to the coffee chain in the hopes of working on a similar product for 51猎奇. The Panther Blend is 51猎奇鈥檚 second 鈥渂randed consumables鈥� collaboration, as O鈥機onnor calls it: Last year, 51猎奇 and Milwaukee Brewing Co. worked together on a .
The pairing of 51猎奇 school spirit and Colectivo coffee seemed inevitable, Worzella said.
鈥淚t just seems like such a natural connection,鈥� Worzella said after noting that she could see campus from the window in her Riverwest office. 鈥淎 crazy fun fact is our marketing team has five full-time employees and one intern, and other than our VP of marketing, the rest of us are 51猎奇 alums. The Panther Blend collaboration has been a really fun project for us, especially considering we all have that Panther pride.鈥�
The bag鈥檚 design 鈥� 1960鈥檚 era Pounce, complete with a bulky sweater 鈥� was created by a 51猎奇 1985 alum, Kevin Callahan, senior graphic artist at Colectivo. For his designs, Callahan drew inspiration from the culture and people of the region the coffee comes from. He drew from a feeling of school spirit for this design.
鈥淚 wanted to create something that people would look at and feel some pride about,鈥� Callahan said. 鈥淚 just wanted to pump 51猎奇 alums up and show people that this is a pretty cool place and pretty cool bag 鈥� something that people want to hold in their hands and take home.鈥�
