A Six-Dollar Cup of Coffee

Apparently, I like to live large. So large, that in the worst economic times I have ever seen in my lifetime, I was willing to spend $6 on a cup of coffee just for the thrill of it.

After grabbing a bite to eat at Alladin's in Grandview, Jill and I went to Stauf's coffee house to kill some time before our movie. We walked in and there it was in all its glory -- the $11,000 machine that is supposed to brew the best possible cup of coffee-- the Clover.

The Clover is a precise little coffee making robot. It keeps the temperature of the water at the most optimal point for brewing. The barista explained to me that it works similarly to a French Press, but it is able to filter out the oils, leaving a "cleaner" taste that enables the complexity of the bean to come through.

The cup costs $6 because I chose Jamaican Blue Mountain beans, which I've had in the past and they are fabulous. The beans themselves are quite expensive. With any other roast, coffee from The Clover will cost you $3.

The Clover also seems to be a finicky little robot. It took a few attempts to get the coffee to brew correctly, but my barista came through for me and presented to me the "perfect" cup of coffee. (For my wait, the fine people at Stauf's gave me my JBM coffee at a discount.)

So, is it worth the money? The coffee's flavor certainly came through much "cleaner," and that's the best word I can come up with to describe it. There was still the natural acidity of the coffee, but it was much milder and not as overwhelming as with other brewing methods. Coffee sometimes upsets my stomach and this coffee didn't produce that effect, which I assume was due to the filtering.

Has my life been changed? No. I don't think I'm enough of a coffee lover to see myself purchasing more beverages from The Clover, but it was fun to try.

Want to taste and see for yourself? Location information on Stauf's provided below:

http://www.cupojoe.com/content.aspx?page=grandviewstore

For more information on The Clover, there was a great write up in Slate from early 2008.

http://www.slate.com/id/2185655/pagenum/all/