'It tastes like Christmas': Chi Omega debuts limited edition drink with ZBeans

Mercer sorority Chi Omega is debuting two limited edition drinks this week with Mercer on Mission success story ZBeans. The collaboration, which organizers said will be available only until Friday, Nov. 14, features two offerings. The first, a play on the sorority's name, Chai O, is a white mocha chai drink topped with cherry cold foam. Additionally, the shop is offering a Red Hot Refresher, a caffeinated strawberry-mango energy drink akin to Starbucks' Refresher drinks.

The beverages began as one of many partnerships put on by Chi Omega to generate marketing for the sorority and contribute to the group's philanthropy, the Make-A-Wish Foundation. What was at first a standard outreach effort, though, later became a more unique, community-focused development.

"We got a lot of PR packages and stuff from other companies, other brands, but I felt like nothing was really personalized," Lekhan Patel '27, the marketing director for Chi Omega, said. "Even though it was sent for us, it didn't feel special."

Lekhan Patel then connected with ZBeans, the coffee shop founded by Mercer alumnus Shane Buerster '18 that has a physical presence in Mercer Village and throughout Macon, to build a relationship with an organization already so close to the University.

"I was like, 'A lot of our sisters not only work there, but they go there all the time,'" Patel said about her decision to work with ZBeans. "So I decided to reach out."

After ZBeans responded positively to the idea in early October, Patel began to communicate with their marketing team to map out a more detailed plan. In order to further develop the idea, Lekhan Patel said she worked with her fellow chapter members and explained the partnership. Prior to a mid-October chapter meeting, she put potential flavors and combinations up for a vote.

With the final result tallied, she "introduced it to our exec members and then the chapter overall, and everybody loved it," Lekhan Patel said.

After the meeting, Lekhan Patel and Misha Patel '27, a member of Chi Omega, began to put together a taste test to solidify the flavor of the upcoming drinks and to ensure that the chapter was on board with their product.

"We decided to do a chai because everyone likes a good chai," Misha Patel said. "Then we added the energy refresher because not everyone wants milk and coffee all of the time."

Both Misha Patel and Lekhan Patel, along with other members, got to go behind the scenes at ZBeans to experiment with the flavor, presentation and mixture of the drinks. While they eventually settled on a white mocha chai and a strawberry-mango refresher, the process did not go without some creative differences between the members of Chi Omega.

"The cherry cold foam threw me off at first, because the idea of fruit in my coffee sounded so weird," said Lekhan Patel. "It just sounded like cough medicine."

When trying out the final form, though, she said she was pleasantly surprised.

"We tried it and it was perfect -- it was just the perfect amount," Lekhan Patel said. "It wasn't even cherry, it was just so subtle. It kind of tasted like cinnamon."

"The chai literally tastes kind of like Christmas in a cup," Misha Patel said. "It just tastes like the holidays."

While the drinks being offered for a limited time are the attraction, Lekhan Patel said they were only one part of the bigger picture for the sorority. Ten percent of ZBeans' proceeds, she said, will go to the Make-A-Wish foundation as long as more than half the sorority goes to the coffee shop during this week's partnership.

"At the end of the day, we're all benefiting from it because the money isn't going towards us, it's going towards a philanthropy, which is what we all value," Lekhan Patel said. "We all have so much fun, and it's amazing seeing your little idea go into action."