Starbucks - What's your favorite?

[gaj90027]

What is the clover brewed coffee that keeps getting mentioned?

I tried one of the new Blond roasted coffees this morning and found it incredibly week, I believe it was Veranda. I love the Guatemala Antigua and the Kenya but my favorite I haven't seen in ages Brazil Iponema Bourbon I believe it was called.

The worst coffee they sell is the Three Region Blend - tastes like burnt hair!!!

 

[TheGuy]

Clover is a vacuum press machine. They are only in certain Starbucks. They grind and make the coffee to order, and there is slightly more coffee than in the regular drip. It's similar to a french press but with the final extraction done with the vacuum from the bottom rather than press the grinds down and pouring off the top. And they have a series of reserve coffees that you can only get on the clover, at least that's how it is up here in TO.

 

[gaj90027]

Clover is a vacuum press machine. They are only in certain Starbucks. They grind and make the coffee to order, and there is slightly more coffee than in the regular drip. It's similar to a french press but with the final extraction done with the vacuum from the bottom rather than press the grinds down and pouring off the top. And they have a series of reserve coffees that you can only get on the clover, at least that's how it is up here in TO.

Thanks for clarifying, I haven't seen this at any of the local Starbucks here yet.

 

[Jasonian]

Clover is a vacuum press machine. They are only in certain Starbucks. They grind and make the coffee to order, and there is slightly more coffee than in the regular drip. It's similar to a french press but with the final extraction done with the vacuum from the bottom rather than press the grinds down and pouring off the top. And they have a series of reserve coffees that you can only get on the clover, at least that's how it is up here in TO.

Correction: it is NOT a vacuum press machine.

The machine itself is like an automated French Press with adjustable specifics. You can control water temperature, pre-wet time, and dwell time. It does not perform any agitation, and if it is desired, it must be done manually.

It's an excellent machine for a lab, but an atrocity behind the counter. It was sold as a way to brew one cup at a time, quickly. The problem with that is that there is no replacement for dwell time (except for pressure: i.e. - moka, espresso, presso, etc), and people had been trying to work around the dwell time dilemma by dosing massive amounts of coffee for a single cup and brewing in about a minute and a half. The result is an aromatic-heavy cup of under-extracted (very expensive) coffee.

It became popular because of strategic marketing and story-telling, but it didn't make a better cup of coffee.. just made a cup of coffee more expensive and "out of reach", which helped with customer perception in high-end specialty coffee retailers. Its popularity grew, and Starbucks bought the Coffee Equipment Company (maker of the Clover brewing system), and the manual brew method revolution began in an effort to fill in the sucking void left by the disappearance of the Clover, since demand had been generated for by-the-cup style brewing by its popularity.

The first attempt was vacuum brewers, which I still think is the absolute best way to go, but it's also the most expensive and requires the most attention. Manual pour-over started to gain traction when popular Boston-based coffee blog / roasting company started looking at the Hario V60 and talking about manual pour over brewing as an art form. The Chemex rose again (like the phoenix) as a result, and other pour-over brewers started popping up onto the scene.

The problem is still the same, however. People want by-the-cup, but they want it NOW (d***-it!). What does a barista do? The same strategy as was used in the Clover: an extreme updose with a short dwell time. The result: a cup of aromatic-heavy under-extracted coffee.

fin

 

[GFlanagan3]

I have always liked Kenyan...thanks for the clarification Jasonian

 

[Drybonz]

I like the French roast.

 

[StillShaving]

Jasonian, interesting point about peoples's impatience and hurried brewing. I have wanted to try a cup from a Clover machine but have not seen one yet. The concept looks sound and one wonders if the starbuck CEO wanted to buy the company for its quality or competitive threat.

Is there any similar alternative brewer available in the market? It should make a nice home brewing station. IIRC the Clover machines cost many thousand USD each, but the basic machine seems pretty simple, at least simpler than an espresso machine, just needing stable temperature control and a timer to control when to dump/press/filter the coffee. Coffee roasters could get into the act and provide a barcode with their fresh coffee to "brew it better" (providing the optimal brewing parameters to otherwise unexperienced customers) like those Tassimo single cups.

 

[TheGuy]

@Jasonian I took the Starbucks employees at their word that it is a vacuum machine without doing my own research. I should have looked it up myself. It is a vacuum (http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/kitchen/clover-coffee-maker1.htm) to draw the coffee off, not a vacuum brewing process. My apologies for using ambigious terminology and causing any confusion.

[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]

 

[BeeSeeDub]

I typically drink my coffee black - Since S-buck's began offering the Pike Place regularly, that's been my preferred choice. I find it much more palatable than their House blend to drink without cream & sugar.

 

[Commander Quan]

I have never been a fan of the "filtered though cigarette ash" taste of Starbucks coffee, but I did just sample the Blonde blend and thought it was quite good.

 

[Jasonian]

Jasonian, interesting point about peoples's impatience and hurried brewing. I have wanted to try a cup from a Clover machine but have not seen one yet. The concept looks sound and one wonders if the starbuck CEO wanted to buy the company for its quality or competitive threat.

Is there any similar alternative brewer available in the market? It should make a nice home brewing station. IIRC the Clover machines cost many thousand USD each, but the basic machine seems pretty simple, at least simpler than an espresso machine, just needing stable temperature control and a timer to control when to dump/press/filter the coffee. Coffee roasters could get into the act and provide a barcode with their fresh coffee to "brew it better" (providing the optimal brewing parameters to otherwise unexperienced customers) like those Tassimo single cups.

It exists! It's called a French Press! Get a micromesh nylon filter (yes, they exist) if you want to reduce the mud. All sarcasm aside, the entire machine was something of a gimmick in the first place that was sold at legitimate barista jams and trade shows.. essentially, it was marketed directly to the "in" crowd, and the "in" crowd fell for it, hook line and sinker. Don't let the fact that it had a $12,000 price tag fool you into thinking that it isn't anything more than an evolved French Press which can be bought for ~$10 at Ikea (or Ross, or TJ Maxx, or for relatively slightly more at Target, World Market, etc..).

 

[Jasonian]

@Jasonian I took the Starbucks employees at their word that it is a vacuum machine without doing my own research. I should have looked it up myself. It is a vacuum (http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/kitchen/clover-coffee-maker1.htm) to draw the coffee off, not a vacuum brewing process. My apologies for using ambigious terminology and causing any confusion.

Nah, no big deal. I just didn't want everyone suddenly thinking that it was something that it isn't.

 

[StillShaving]

It exists! It's called a French Press! Get a micromesh nylon filter (yes, they exist) if you want to reduce the mud. All sarcasm aside, the entire machine was something of a gimmick in the first place that was sold at legitimate barista jams and trade shows.. essentially, it was marketed directly to the "in" crowd, and the "in" crowd fell for it, hook line and sinker. Don't let the fact that it had a $12,000 price tag fool you into thinking that it isn't anything more than an evolved French Press which can be bought for ~$10 at Ikea (or Ross, or TJ Maxx, or for relatively slightly more at Target, World Market, etc..).

You are making too much sense with this post. Surely the Clover was not worth the cost.

But as an auto-drip machine is analogous to a manual pour-over, an automatic french press that provided precise temperature control and oversight over the extraction time could be a big help in the morning for the person with little time to prepare coffee. I recall someone posting a link to a fancy tea brewer that would automatically lift the tea basket out of the water once the preset steeping time had been reached, but I haven't seen anything similar for coffee brewing.

 

[TheGuy]

Well I completely agree that $12,000 is ridiculous for a coffee machine, unless maybe Scarlett Johansson will be making my coffee from now on , I do prefer the clover brewed coffee to the regular drip that Starbucks sells. Of course if there were decent indie coffee places in downtown Toronto close to where I work then I would most likely seldom go to SBs.

And I look forward to my weekend mornings and my french press. Just don't have the time to use it during the week.

 

[JPDyson]

The Clover should cost a couple hundred bucks. Might even buy it, then - a temperature controlled, temperature stable, automated french press certainly has its appeal.

However, in the department of "competitors" (if a dead product has such a thing), Bunn is doing something better for less with the Trifecta (I'm given to believe).

 

[Jasonian]

Have either of you seen this? http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-Bistro-Electric-French-Dripper/dp/B004YDIFTW

 

[StillShaving]

I hadn't seen the Bodum Bistro Electric French Press before, finally an economical machine. A few reviewers complained of low brew temperatures for coffee, but still might be worthwhile.

Agree the Bunn Trifecta looks better than the Clover, almost providing too much control over the brewing. Except for the price, its very appealing.

 

[Jasonian]

The electric bistro is brand new, so not surprising there. Still, though, I thought it interesting.

 

[aceinyerface]

Well I completely agree that $12,000 is ridiculous for a coffee machine, unless maybe Scarlett Johansson will be making my coffee from now on

Can I come over?

 

[JPDyson]

Looks like it's a standard thermoblock coffee brewer, minus the filter basket. No temperature control. Pressing is still manual.

All this saves you is pouring the hot water.