Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Kenyan Coffee from a Clover @ Cafe Grumpy

On my plane flight home from Chicago I read an article in Wired about the future of coffee and how it will be commandeered by Starbucks (again). A company called Clover built a machine called the Clover which brews individual cups of coffee. These machines cost $11,00 and are supposed to make the best coffees in the world. Each cup of beans is ground by itself, then the grounds are put into a hole in the top while hot water is poured in through a spigot. The temperature of the water can be controlled to produce the exact taste that the customer wants. Then the mixture is hand whisked by the barista for an amount of time only beknowst amongst them, the grounds are then drained, and the coffee is poured into a cup at the end of the production line. Overall, a very time consuming process for a single cup of coffee, even if it is now $4.


I went over to Cafe Grumpy in on 20th near 7th to see what all the hubub was about. The coffee menu offered a variety of choices of beans all all the employees had an impressive wealth of knowledge and passion about everything there. I chose the Kenyan coffee. After the performance I sipped the piping hot beverage. Unfortunately, besides the subtle accent of wine I really stretched to notice, I didn't taste or smell anything too above-the-ordinary, but I'll try again with a different bean selection. Maybe I should start experiementing with water temperature...

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