Clover coffee machine at Starbucks

[shecky]

anyone tried this yet? The Starbuck's nearest to my house was one of the 50 stores in the country to get a machine, and i have to say, its fantastic. it is basically an automated French Press. I have had a few cups out of it and it really is excellent - very rich and complex, no bitterness, very smooth. at about 2x the price of regular brewed coffee ($2 vs. $3.50 - $4.00) it is not something i will make my every day, but a few times a week i will go for a cup i suspect.

here is an article with a video of the process

another video

The machine:

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'm salivating already - I love a really good smooth cup of excellent coffee. Not sure though, if that splendid machine will appear at a Starbuck's outlet in western Europe. Thanks for sharing it, mate.

Cheers.

 

[Abstract]

So now they're trying to charge $4 for regular brew? Dang. That's like Australian coffee prices. On the other hand, Australian coffee is actually quite excellent compared to American coffee, so the prices can be forgiven. The espresso-based coffee drink prices here are good.

 

[shecky]

yep they are but 2 points: 1) it is WAY WAY better than any standard drip coffee i have ever had, and even better than the carefully weighed and timed french press coffee i make at home. and 2) it takes an employee at least as much time to make a cup as it does for them to make an espresso drink; so i suppose from a labor cost perspective it is justified. if they ever came out with a home version of this machine for under $250 i would buy it. and since starbucks pimps every piece of equipment they have in the store into some version to market to the home user i figure it is just a matter of time.

 

[Abstract]

But those machines cost them $11,000.

I just didn't think they were going to charge $4 per cup when all they're doing is using this $11,000 machine. From a cost standpoint, that's nothing. Also, a number of small cafes also use the Clover machine, and they probably don't charge anywhere near $4 for this miracle coffee.


EDIT: Turns out I was wrong. Some people have been charged $7 per cup, but that's because of the type of coffee beans they use more than the machine itself.