The Best Cup of Filter Coffee You Will Ever Have
Written by Laurence W. - UK & Ireland coffee ambassador
What happens when you bring together passion for innovation and the ability to source some of the best coffees from around the world? Starbucks Reserve® and the Clover®. That’s what!
I was lucky enough to taste a cup of 100% Kona brewed through a Clover machine a couple of years ago on a trip to Seattle, and was absolutely blown away by the experience. Why? Well, there are 2 reasons – the machine and the coffee.
The Clover started life in the back of a garage in a makeshift woodworking shop. Zander Nosler wanted to create a machine that would not only brew the best cup of coffee but that would also be enchanting and worth watching. Together, with an engineer friend, they created a pioneering vacuum press; a bit like an upside-down French press that pushes the coffee up rather than down. As the filter with the coffee on top rises up the brewing chamber it creates a vacuum underneath causing the water to be sucked down through the coffee and filter and then out into the cup. By precisely controlling the temperature, amount of water and the amount of time the coffee stayed in the water they were able to create an individual cup of filter coffee that was rich, flavourful and thanks to its special filter, retained the best-tasting oils extracted from the coffee.
And then there’s the coffee. Starbucks only sources the finest arabica coffees in the world and the pinnacle of these make it into the Starbucks Reserve® range. Our Green Coffee Team occasionally come across coffees that are so unusual and unique in their flavour that it would be a shame to see them go into a blend. This, however, creates a problem as the quantities of these rare and exotic coffees are so small that it’s simply not possible to have them available in all stores. And we wouldn’t want to see anyone else put them in a blend either! So instead, we make them available to a select number of stores – less than 5% in fact – and offer them to our customers as Starbucks Reserve® using the Clover® brewer.
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, when trying coffee brewed through the Clover for the first time said that it ‘unquestionably delivers the best cup of coffee I have ever had’
And I have to say I agree!
Click here to find out more about the Clover® brewing system.
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Wow I wish I could try this. I did visit the first Starbucks store in Settle, Wa. 7 years ago on my honeymoon. I'll look out for blend and Clover in the UK
I hope my local Starbucks gets this system soon I am getting so fed up with Pike Place. I still can't believe that a supposed Coffee House only serves one blend of filter coffee.
I will never go to starbucks again. You have no respect for your customers and ana and employees .