The Blue Hell Brew made its long-awaited return this week.
It was the coffee shop’s first time operating since it was shut down in March 2020.
Prior to its shutdown, the café had served coffee and other treats to students every Thursday morning since its debut in 2017.
The shop is a product of Columbus High’s Investment Club. The idea originated in a Shark Tank production that the school held where 6 CHS alumni listened to students’ pitches on how to raise money for the school, and the pitch for a café came out victorious.
The money raised goes directly to the CHS Alumni Association Endowment Fund, which was established to benefit the academic efforts of students at Columbus High. This includes sending academic teams to state and national competitions, replacing the wardrobe of a student that lost everything to a house fire, and covering PSAT costs for all freshman and junior students.
“This is real money, not a simulation,” explains Coach Parker, the sponsor of the Investment Club, “In the short time that the coffee shop was open pre-pandemic, it had raised around $10,000 that has so far added to the fund.”
In preparation for their reopening, Blue Hell Brew reached out to a few of their former members to assist them.
“Our team had to figure out what recipes were going to work and which were not,” explains Yu Chan Cho, “Luckily, after testing multiple drinks, we decided on a few that we thought worked well.”
The menu currently consists of a variety of treats, including Frappes, Lattes, and donuts. As the café resumes its operation, it plans on producing new drinks for its customers.
Blue Hell Brew is open every Thursday morning before school in the concession stand in the gym.
“We are very excited to have the coffee shop open again,” expresses Cho, “We’ve always had a lot of fun operating it and we have big plans for the future!”