Clover coffee machines become an endangered species

June 15, 7:11 AMLA Coffee ExaminerKim Winklhofer

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  Photo by: Redband Roaster

In my June 8th article on the grand opening of the Intelligentsia Coffee location in Venice, I mentioned the fact that they use not one, but two Clover machines. This alone is a remarkable feat.

The Clover machine is and has been one of the ways boutique coffeehouses differentiated themselves from the big chains. However, last year, Starbucks bought the company that manufactures Clovers. As a result, all future Clovers will be found only at Starbucks locations. Any coffeehouse that already owns a Clover will essentially have to rely on Starbucks for parts and service. Doug Cadmus described this situation perfectly when he said on his blog, Bloggle Made In Vermont, “Goliath just bought David’s slingshot.”

Indeed, some coffeehouses no longer offer coffee crafted with a Clover machine. In my search for coffeebars that sold Clover-brewed coffee, I stumbled upon a review of the groundwork coffee company's downtown location. I called groundwork and asked, "Do all of your locations have Clover machines?" To my surprise, they said, "None of them do. Once Starbucks bought the company, we couldn’t get away fast enough.”  Wow.

So, what motivated Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, to buy that high tech slingshot? Although he would probably say, a  zealous and well-documented quest for a perfect cup of coffee, more likely it was a desire to corner the market on a unique and remarkable machine. Basically, the Clover grants the barista complete control over temperature and brew time for each individual cup of coffee. This allows adjustments to be made for different beans to maximize flavor.

Here's a Wired.com video demonstrating the machine in action.
 

As of today, Clovers can be found at Starbucks in only four cities: Seattle (of course), Boston, Miami, and San Francisco. Here in LA, you can get coffee from a Clover at both the Silver Lake and Venice Intelligentsia coffeebars. If there are other LA  java joints that offer it, please comment below. I'd love to know about it.

If you don't live near a coffeehouse that has one of the "renegade" Clovers, I'll soon be reviewing a very affordable alternative device you can use at home every single day. Or every hour, if you're a hard-core coffee achiever.

For more information: A more in-depth article on the Clover and that article I mentioned about Intelligentisia Coffee opening in Venice.