$11,000 coffee machine.
Posted on 06/15/2009 11:17:29 PM PDT by smokingfrog
In my June 8 article on the grand opening of the Intelligentsia Coffee location in Venice, I mentioned the fact that they use not one, but two Clover machines. This alone is a remarkable feat.
The Clover machine is and has been one of the ways boutique coffeehouses differentiated themselves from the big chains. However, last year, Starbucks bought the company that manufactures Clovers. As a result, all future Clovers will be found only at Starbucks locations. Any coffeehouse that already owns a Clover will essentially have to rely on Starbucks for parts and service. Doug Cadmus described this situation perfectly when he said on his blog, Bloggle Made In Vermont, “Goliath just bought David’s slingshot.”
Indeed, some coffeehouses no longer offer coffee crafted with a Clover machine. In my search for coffeebars that sold Clover-brewed coffee, I stumbled upon a review of the groundwork coffee company's downtown location. I called groundwork and asked, "Do all of your locations have Clover machines?" To my surprise, they said, "None of them do. Once Starbucks bought the company, we couldn’t get away fast enough.” Wow.
So, what motivated Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, to buy that high tech slingshot? Although he would probably say, a zealous and well-documented quest for a perfect cup of coffee, more likely it was a desire to corner the market on a unique and remarkable machine.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
Wow! Nice machine! I have tried everything to make a good cup of coffee but I cannot duplicate what I get at Carrabbas and I got a burr grinder, a water filter and a commercial coffee maker. Something is missing. That robust nutty flavor is not there. What else can be done? I bet this Clover machine would solve the problem!
Isn’t that “restraint of trade” and illegal?
A detailed review of the Clover & Starbucks with the money line at the end of the excerpt:
[excertp]
A few days after my cupping room challenge, I'm standing in line at a hilltop Starbucks in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood — one of Clover's beta sites. I do a taste test: a cup of Clover coffee versus brewed coffee. A young barista tells me they're out of the first two specialty coffees I request and suggests instead Starbucks' everyday blend, called Pike Place. During brewing, the barista stirs the grounds into the Clover with a clunky rubber spatula — not a metal whisk — and pours the concoction into a crummy paper cup. I smell, I sip, I inhale. I can't tell which cup of coffee is which — and neither is anything special. Is it the beans? My palate? After a few minutes, I finally pick it out: This coffee tastes a little bit like hype.
Years ago, when I worked downtown, there were stands on First Ave and on Third ave.
I used to get a single shot espresso. They would make it quick and serve it in a paper demitasse.
Wonderful stuff. Wake you up fer shur.
Haven’t even been in that part of the world in like a decade...
My local coffee shops are Intelligentsia and LA Mill, both with Clovers. Exceptional coffee both. And LA Mill also offers syphon which is good and fun to watch.
I don’t leave the house without having downed at least a half pot of coffee.
see the last words on reply #5
Have you tried a coffee press? That’s simply the best coffee I’ve ever had. way better than machine. Why not roast your own? Try “Sweet Maria’s” or “The Captain’s Coffee” for starters on how to buy and roast your own green beans.
Yup. A press is the only way to go!
Real Men drink Cowboy Coffee.
What the heck is Cowboy Coffee?
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
No. I have not tried it. Thanks! I love coffee!
Thanks! Maybe I will try a coffee press!
Sounds good! Thanks for the info.
I was a logger in Alaska and North Idaho and we made what was called “logger’s coffee” defined as “ya’ boil it until it’s so thick a fork will stand up in the middle of it”!
It basically was just left to sit on the fire all day long with grounds being placed into it continuously....I tell ya’, at the end of a long day hiking into the spike camp, there’s nothing like a cup or two of logger coffee!
Ed
I normally just mix some fresh grounds in with my Copenhagen.
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