As if you needed booze staring you in the face to encourage a lunchtime drink, the Oakham Café’s front display case now prominently shows a selection of four tall cans at eye height.
“We thought that it would be nice to have something that’s unique to the café and something that was in the café already,” said Rick Knapp, food and beverage manager at the Ryerson student centre.
Alcohol has always been available, but it’s the first time Knapp has chosen to sell tall cans. The cans replace half of the sandwich display, but the sandwich menu has not been compromised, said Knapp.
The selection debuted during reading week and includes Wellington County Dark Ale, Brakeman’s Session Ale, Trailhead Lager and Somersby Cider. Three of the four beers are brewed in Ontario. The cans go for $6 each.
The promotion continues an existing relationship between Oakham House and both Junction Craft Brewing and the Wellington Brewery. Both breweries make regular deliveries to the Ram in the Rye.
A previous specialty-coffee promotion was met with indifference and Knapp has abandoned a flip-style tabletop drink menu in favour of a simpler two-sided page he thinks customers are more likely to read.
Knapp said it’s too early to know how sales are going, but would have a better idea after a month of sales.
“The café is a unique entity in itself,” said Knapp. “(Having canned beer for sale is) just another way to give it a different, unique flavour.”