In the August issue of Wired magazine, there's an in-depth story about the future of the Clover, that sexy little stainless steel machine you may have noticed at your local (highly evolved) coffee shop. It was with great relief that I read that Starbucks (which acquired the small Seattle-based company that invented and makes the Clover in March) has agreed to service the 250 Clovers that are already out there at other (non-Starbucks) cafes. (This would include my local café in Williamsburg, El Beit, where I've reverted to drinking my coffee black, so as to better appreciate the nuances of a Clover coffee.) Annoyingly, reports author Mathew Honan, the coffee behemoth will stop its goodwill there: it will not be selling Clovers to indie coffee shops from now on.
I'm sure this article (and this topic) has generated a lot of verbiage in the coffee blogosphere, so I'm going to keep this entry short. But I do think Howard Schultz should rethink this plan of cornering the market on Clovers. Let the customer decide who makes the best Clover coffee—your local Starbucks or your local independent ("third wave" or what have you) coffee shop
Check out this video for a demo on how the Clover works.
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