Better coffee than I expect from Starbucks

[jducoeur]

Got tempted into trying out the new "Clover" device at $tarbuck$ today. This is a new toy that they've installed at a small number of locations -- only 50-some in the US, but they have one at the Starbucks on Mall Road in Burlington, and I gather the rest are scattered around Seattle, San Francisco and Boston.

The guy behind the counter (clearly the person who knows how to operate it) described it as "an upside-down french press", which is a fair description. He tosses the grounds into a hole in the top of the gadget, and it then squirts in the hot water. It all froths together for a minute or so with him stirring it, then he presses a button to activate the "press". There's a filter underneath the grounds and water that slowly rises up while a vacuum sucks all the water through the filter, so you watch as a column of grounds rises up out of the gadget. The coffee comes out the bottom, and he squeegees the grounds off the top into an attached garbage pit.

They've combined this with what seems to be a very good line of eight fancy single-grower coffees to show the thing off, and the result is rather good. Still *very* dark-roasted, as one expects from Starbucks (which means some folks will still hate it with a passion), but this coffee actually has *flavor* to go with the burned notes. Needs a bit of cream and sugar to mellow the burnedness IMO, but the result is distinctive and tasty. I tried the Guatamalan, which bills itself as "floral" and isn't kidding -- I don't even have the vocabulary to describe the complex flavor.

Quite nice, and a recommended experiment if you happen to be in that neck of the woods and are a coffee aficionado. I can't drink coffee very often due to stomach issues, but I'll have to find the occasional excuse to work my way through the new menu...

ETA: And OMG, that's *stronger* coffee than the mostly-milk confections I usually get there. I am positively vibrating right now...

Comments

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

The "Clover" device -- isn't that the one where $tarbuck$ bought out the company, and then stopped selling the device to any other coffee shop besides theirs?

Still *very* dark-roasted, as one expects from Starbucks (which means some folks will still hate it with a passion), but this coffee actually has *flavor* to go with the burned notes.

That might be worth a try, except that there are no Starbucks near us.

[jducoeur]

The "Clover" device -- isn't that the one where $tarbuck$ bought out the company, and then stopped selling the device to any other coffee shop besides theirs?

Could be -- I hadn't heard about that, but I don't make any effort to follow them in the news. Wouldn't be a surprising move if they felt that it's a potential edge in the business, especially since it's way too high-end a device for most consumers: it's really designed for coffee shops, so they might have wanted to corner it...

[tpau]

i bet the guy behind the counter was Colin, my housemate :)

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

Actually, if that was the case, Justin, you might recognized him next time from Intercon.

He's one of the geniuses behind one of my favorite LARPs.

[tpau]

yup he and keriO wrote Dark Line

[jducoeur]

Hmm. Dunno -- I didn't recognize him, but he did have a definite geek vibe in the way he enthused about the device. Ask him if he got into a chat about the thing at 11-something this morning. (It's rather unusual for me to chat with folks behind counters due to my shyness with context-less strangers, but gadget discussions are always up my alley...)

[tpau]

check out zombie_dog userpics and tell me if i it is him

[jducoeur]

Hmm. A different outfit and hair, but it's plausible...

[zombie-dog.livejournal.com]

Pardon me for butting in, but ...

I daresay it was me -- "Upside-down vacuum-powered french press" is the capsule description I use for the machine most frequently, and I am far and away the most excitable partner at my store when it comes to discussing the Clover.

Also, I think I recall our conversation.

[jducoeur]

Well, then, happy to meet you, and I daresay you'll see me occasionally. Like I said, I don't do an *awful* lot of coffee, but it's a good and interesting cup, and I want to try more of that line...

[zombie-dog.livejournal.com]

Excellent. We'll be happy to serve them to you. :)

[lady-cassia.livejournal.com]

It sounds like a high-tech and very expensive version of my aeropress (the espresso maker I bring to events in my bag-of-addiction).

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

Still *very* dark-roasted, as one expects from Starbucks (which means some folks will still hate it with a passion).

Well, yeah. Just suffered through some supposedly wonderful burnt-as-usual Starbucks at a seminar. But if folks like it that way, this is (still) America. What annoys the hell outta me, tho', is the folks who oh-so-condescendingly explain to me why I should love Starbucks -- apparently if I only had a functioning frontal cortex. Yeah, I'm talkin' about you, Ted Allen.