Starbucks Tests the Clover in several Stores
Starbucks is reputed to be testing the Clover coffee brewing system in several stores.
The Clover is described as an automated reverse French press. Although, at around $11,000 a pop, this innovative coffee brewing system is a bit more expensive than a typical coffee press.
The invention of Zander Nosler, co-founder and president of the Coffee Equipment Company which manufacturers the machines, the Clover was first introduced about four years ago. There are now about 200 in use at specialty coffee houses in the US and Canada.
Clover Coffee Machine Demonstration
The Clover is a single cup brewing system that automates the function of a French press, and gives the barista precise control over all four variables of the brewing process; water temperature, coffee grind, coffee to water ratio, and the brew time.
Intended for commercial use, the full cycle time to produce a cup of coffee is about 75 seconds. The result is a precisely controlled, near perfect coffee extraction, similar to a French press, but in much less time.
A French press will take, on average, about 4 to 5 minutes to steep and brew several cups of coffee, and is not a very practical method for a busy commercial establishment to produce a brewed-to-order single cup of coffee. Another important efficiency factor for a commercial operation, cleanup of the expelled coffee grounds after brewing with a Clover is much easier and faster than with a French press.
If you like to dump milk and sugar into your coffee, the refinement of the Clover brewing system is a nuance that will most likely escape your appreciation. And, at between $2.50 and $3.00 for a cup of coffee brewed with a Clover, you’re not likely to see the value in spending the extra money.
But for coffee drinkers that are refining their palates, the Clover is an effective and complimentary brewing method that can really bring out the unique and distinctive tastes and flavors of the more exotic specialty coffees increasing in popularity today.
Starbucks has an initiative underway to renew the higher-end quality coffee experience and attempt to recapture some of the customers who have begun to stray. An effort to refocus on the core business and make it “more about the coffee”.
Apparently, deploying the Clover coffee machines at several pilot stores, including a few stores in Seattle, is some of this current testing underway. Supposedly, the stores with a Clover will also offer more exclusive beans than what is normally available at a standard Starbucks store.
Of course, as we would expect from Starbucks, they have coined another Starbucks-ism and will refer to the Clover machines as a “Fresh Press”.
Whether or not the Clover will draw the customers in, good for Starbucks for making the effort to raise the bar.
I know I’ll be curious to try a cup from a Clover when it comes to a Starbucks in my neighborhood.
Posted in Starbucks |
March 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
“If you like to dump milk and sugar into your coffee, the refinement of the Clover brewing system is a nuance that will most likely escape your appreciation…But for coffee drinkers that are refining their palates..”
This brew, while smartly prepared, is marked by subtle notes of elitism and snobbery.
But I agree, in my experience Clover coffee doesn’t hold up well to milk/cream/sugar.
I’m wondering though, with all the variable settings on the Clover, if one could adjust to make a cup more suitable to milk/sugar, when the customer (if they are a shameful dilletante like myself) noted they prefer it that way?
March 10th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Jay,
I always have misgivings when my commentary comes off elitist or snobbish. That’s not my intention, but regrettably, this post about the Clover surely does sound a bit pretentious. Thanks for the response, I do appreciate the feedback.
I spent some time this last weekend at a few coffee houses brewing with the clover. I do believe the more precise brewing system helps bring out the subtle tones, flavors and unique characteristics of the different single origins that I sampled.
And, for me, adding milk and sweetening with sugar would mask and overshadow these characteristics that I’m after.
That being said, if a Clover is capable of brewing a better cup of coffee, than why wouldn’t that simply enhance the cup after adding milk/sugar if that’s your preference? Reasonable question.
And, as you suggest, “with all the variable settings on the Clover”, would there be a brewing optimization for those that prefer the milk/sugar?
Here’s my understanding.
There’s an optimal extraction that you’re after to bring out the full qualities of the coffee in the cup. Under extracted, and you have a weaker cup, that doesn’t reach the full potential of flavor, body, and aroma, including the more subtle characteristics that may be present. Over extracted, and you start to introduce flavor defects including the bitters that tend to eclipse the best and most pleasing aspects of the flavor profile.
As mentioned, the variables to hit the optimum extraction window are water temperature, fineness/coarseness of the grind, ratio of ground coffee to water, and brewing or steep time. The complexity may rise exponentially when you consider all the combinations and permutations of these four variables. And the parameters will vary for each different coffee.
The Clover doesn’t arrive at the optimal settings automatically. Lot’s of testing and trial and error are in order to arrive the preferred settings that deliver the results you’re after. It’s a fair amount of work to line up a full set of parameters for the 10 or 12 coffees that a store may want to brew.
In practice, from what I’ve seen, baristas are reducing the complexity somewhat, by holding one or more of the variables constant, and limiting the adjustments to a more manageable range. For example, stick to the same volume of ground coffee (grinds to water ratio), the same water temperature, and just adjust the brew or steep time.
The real benefit and leverage of the Clover is consistency. Once you do find the right settings and parameters for a particular brew, the precision of the system makes it possible to reliably repeat the same results over and over again. And, the Clover can typically deliver these results faster than a coffee press.
Interestingly, I sampled a demonstration where the brew time was taken a mere 4 seconds past the determined optimal extraction threshold, and the cup was detectably bitter. So there is merit to the system. It does seem to work.
Bottom line, the Clover is more about hitting the optimal extraction window which does vary for different coffees. And then being able to repeat reliably and consistently each and every time. This capability allows the coffee house to reliably offer a custom, hand-brewed cup, with a fast enough brewing cycle.
As far as tweaking for a better cup that favors adding milk/sugar, it may be possible, but I haven’t seen anyone heading in this direction.
The feedback I do hear is that the Clover is still new, and with all of the variables and possible permutations and combinations of the settings, most are still learning and experimenting. It seems to be a work in progress.
Mark
March 15th, 2008 at 4:44 am
[…] road trip was also an opportunity to track down a few coffee houses brewing with the Clover. We’ve been talking about this the past few weeks and have been looking forward to sampling […]
March 27th, 2008 at 8:43 am
[…] been talking about the Clover brewing machine quite a bit lately. See “Starbucks Tests the Clover in Several Stores” for more detailed information about the Clover brewing […]
April 5th, 2008 at 10:09 am
[…] quite a bit lately. For more information about this innovative brewing system, see our article, Starbucks tests the Clover in Stores. Incidentally, Starbucks just recently acquired the Coffee Equipment Co, the manufacture of the […]
May 13th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
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