Bully On Dept: Starbucks custom "Clover" coffee

Coffee, cigars and rum go togther like priests and choirboys. Indeed the brothers are known to have a tipple now and then. Oh and some rum, cigars and Belgian beer as well, lol...
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Capn Jimbo
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Bully On Dept: Starbucks custom "Clover" coffee

Post by Capn Jimbo »

The new "Clover system was a breakthrough...


And until recently wasn't at Starbucks. The "Clover" machine costs around $11K, and it's claim to fame is being able to control every aspect of coffeemaking (temperature, time, etc) in a French press type automated process, with the idea of making an absolutely fresh, just brewed single cup of special coffee - customized for each customer (at a higher price of course).

Starbuck's stock has taken a dive, what with real competition from urp - MacDonald's and Dunkin Donuts. The idea is that the Clover system will bring back personal service, and the romance of making a customized cup just for you. Fresh!

If you want to try one, here's a site that tracks the locations:
http://www.starbucksmelody.com/2010/06/ ... er-stores/



Not so sorry to say...

I won't be buying more than one, and that only to satisfy my curiosity about the machine. The bad news is that Bully Starbucks has purchased the company and appears to screwing the many small and independent coffee shops that bought Clovers and established its worth. The original warranties may not be honored, training is not longer provided, nor access to the Clovernet sales and earnings software that proved useful to them.

Bully.
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Tue Sep 02, 2014 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by bearmark »

The Clover system is a must see... I watched like a school boy while my coffee was brewed by the impressive machine. I haven't done a direct comparison with the same beans to their normal drip or a traditional press, but every reserve coffee that I've had in the machine was quite good (100% Kona Coffee Parry Estate, Brazil Bourbon Rio Verde, Zambia Peaberry Terranova Estate and Sun Dried Ethiopia Yergacheffe).
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Post by da'rum »

in goes your eye out
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

For those who don't have a Times account, a few exerpts...
"But the largely unmentioned ramification... (is) about the disappointment of the people at the cafes and roasters who have supported C.E.C. and the Clover since it was introduced a couple years ago.

"...existing Clover owners, the existing distributor network, etc. are being left high and dry by this purchase” He pointed out that CloverNet, an online support system for the Clover, is being shut down 60 days after the sale of C.E.C. to Starbucks... In other words, after a cafe tested and tasted their way to satisfaction with a formula for a particular coffee on their Clover, they could create a recipe for it and share their recipe with other Clover users via CloverNet, to help each other highlight the best way to brew particular coffees on the machine. "

"...They helped the company compile data about sales, about how the machines are holding up in the field and which specific times, doses and temperatures showcased individual coffees best. Now that information is something that Starbucks ...has ownership of, and soon it will no longer be available to original Clover users."
This kind of predatory business practice is just mean spirited and disgusting. I have no problem with honest competition, but every problem with the exercise of unbridled power.
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Re: Bully On Dept: Starbucks custom "Clover" cof

Post by NCyankee »

Capn Jimbo wrote:The new "Clover system was a breakthrough...



If you want to try one, here's a site that tracks the locations:
http://www.starbucksmelody.com/2010/06/ ... er-stores/

That site is way out of date, the location tracker on Starbucks' site has an option for sites with a Clover machine.


http://www.starbucks.com/store-locator/search
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Post by SlowRain »

Yes, what Starbucks did was deplorable. As you can imagine, there was a bit of sour-grapes going on within the specialty-coffee industry after that happened. Weeks before, a lot of coffee people were praising the wonderful taste of the Clover S1. After Starbucks bought the company, there were a lot of people who suddenly switched and started complaining about the machine, saying the coffee wasn't really that great in the first place.
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