Square Starbucks Debuts Machine

Something new has been brewing in Harvard Square.

Starbucks rolled out a new, high-end coffee machine to six Seattle and Boston stores, including one of Harvard Square’s Garage locations. The machine, called the “Clover,” retails for $11,000.

Expensive espresso machines are nothing new—an espresso machine from Williams Sonoma can run close to $4,000. But the Clover only makes coffee—one, slow, meticulous, pressed cup at a time, which barista Teena L. Eggleston called “couture coffee.”

The machine is produced by the small Seattle Coffee Equipment Company, which was bought by Starbucks in March.

The company bills the machine on its Web site as able to “bring out the subtle nuances of all of your coffees through complete, independent control of all of the important brew parameters: grind size, dose, water temperature, and contact time.” There are a few hundred Clover machines throughout the U.S. and the world, mostly in small, high-end cafes, but there is only one other Clover in New England, according to the Clover Web site.

Starbucks will install the machines in select U.S. stores over the next year, according to Starbucks spokeswoman Bridget Baker.

Barista Greg R. Toro called the pressed coffee the best he had ever had. “I get to lean over the machine as it’s brewing,” he said. “It’s the freshest smell.”

A pressed coffee from the Clover machine costs $2.25 for a “tall” and $2.50 for a “grande,” about 50 cents more than a traditional brewed cup of dripped coffee from Starbucks in Harvard Square. “The difference is well worth the price,” Toro said.

Doris Donoghue, a registered nurse at University Health Services, who called herself a coffee “aficionado” but not an expert, said the extra cost for the pressed coffee was well worth it.

Some, however, were confused by the proper etiquette for enjoying the more expensive cup. Jarret A. Zafran ’09 asked the barista, “Is it a sin to put in milk and sugar?”

“I’m not going to tell you how to drink your coffee,” Toro replied.

After contaminating the pressed coffee, Zafran tasted the cup and deemed it “tasty.”

“I’m not an expert,” he said. “But this is a good cup of coffee.”

—Crimson Staff Writer Gabriel J. Daly can be reached at gdaly@fas.harvard.edu