Coffee Tech: What can an $11000 coffee machine do for Starbucks brews?

Tag : metal machine

Coffee enthusiasts say that an $11,000 machine made in Seattlemakes astonishingly good coffee because it lets brewers preciselycontrol the amount of coffee, the temperature of the water and thelength of brewing time.
The CEO of Starbucks was so impressed with the machine that hebought the company that made it so that Starbucks -- and virtuallyno other company -- could use its incredible technology toreinvigorate its struggling stores.
A great story in Wired explains why the $11,000 machine -- dubbed the Clover --might have been great for independent cafes but is wasted onStarbucks: Great brewing technology doesn't matter much if you usemedicore water and terrible, over-roasted beans.
A few days after my cupping room challenge, I'm standing in line ata hilltop Starbucks in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood -- one ofClover's beta sites. I do a taste test: a cup of Clover coffeeversus brewed coffee. A young barista tells me they're out of thefirst two specialty coffees I request and suggests insteadStarbucks' everyday blend, called Pike Place. During brewing, thebarista stirs the grounds into the Clover with a clunky rubberspatula -- not a metal whisk -- and pours the concoction into acrummy paper cup. I smell, I sip, I inhale. I can't tell which cupof coffee is which -- and neither is anything special. Is it thebeans? My palate? After a few minutes, I finally pick it out: Thiscoffee tastes a little bit like hype.