Clover debuts in San Francisco Starbucks stores; one critic calls it "a treat well worth" $2.75

Any reports from SF customers and baristas on the Clover launch this week? Are the small-batch coffees selling, and do customers like the drink? [Link fixed.] ||Starbucks' Small Batch Coffee Program Reaches Bay Area 



Comments

Well the way things are going we might be able to put shares of SBUX stock up on our menu. Buy a drink in the morning, bring your receipt back after 2pm and get a share of SBUX for $2

[Melody]

For the record, though it seems to have gotten almost no attention, a Clover store opened in Beaverton, Oregon at the same time as the San Francisco openings. I guess that Beaverton, Oregon doesn't sound quite as glamorous as SF.

[Venti Urnex Latte]

Jim Webmaster,

The link seems to be incorrect. Unless you possibly meant to link to the story on the woman who found a dead bat in her coffee filter and therefore drank a cup of STARBATS coffee:

http://www.yumsugar.com/2336489

[STARBUCKS GOSSIP WEBMASTER]

The correct URL is now posted. Sorry.

[Chauncey]

In Chicago no Clovers yet at Starbucks. But, at Intelligista Coffee you can get a "grande" Clover for around $4 including the 11.25% sales tax.
The coffee is great!

[DrKoob]

I got really lucky and walked into a SBUX in Bellevue, WA last week and saw that they had the first Clover on the Eastside. The BEST cup of coffee I have ever had. Almost like drinking wine. Outstanding.

[Crema the crop]

Chauncey, when did Intelly get a Clover? I was there this summer and it didn't appear they were selling clover-brewed coffees.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

Soon you can buy Starbucks stock at the same price as a triple Venti soy white mocha. They'll have a button in the Misc menu.

[Koolaid Stained]

Really not a bad idea...fidelity can set up a portfolio from their profile with the option of being able to combine it with an existing portfolio...think of the interest this would cause on wall street...random shares of failing sbux stock suddenly being consumed like so much oatmeal...MSI, here i come!

[Koolaid Stained]

I meant registered sbux card holders...

[Pat Nerr]

woo hoo! $10.69... almost time to buy

[Darleen]

Can you believe I have to exercise mine before I lose them? "We're in a bit of a pickle Dick" (fun with dick and jane voice)

[Pat Nerr]

yeah... You'd better give them a hug and kiss before you flush them down the terlit

[Darleen]

No doubt, what a joke!

I'm curious as to what Starbucks considers "small batch". Anyone have info on how Starbucks chooses the coffees for Clover and how they're roasted?

If Starbucks wants to be viewed as a quality-centric company then this info should be readily available as it is at places like Intelligentsia. (ie. the barista serving the Clover'd coffee knows the info)

Many thanks.

[Christian]

They do have "some" information available on the website although it's not as informative as most roasters. I just posted a huge review on my blog. Bottom line - surprisingly good - and I pretty much hate Starbucks. But it still could be better.

Anyone noticed that the old Coffee Equipment Company website, including the Clover map got pulled down yesterday. If you want to locate a clover (that's not in Starbucks) you now have to do it the old fashioned way.

[SPORK]

Can we Partner Bevvy a Clover?

[Kathy]

Will any of the licensed stores get Clovers?

Thanks for the info Christian. It looks like the old Clover site now directs you to starbucks.com/clover.

Funny how Starbucks is following the lead of independents in this instance. Now they're marginalizing the phrase "small batch coffee" without providing any specifics.

Does the premier purveyor of coffee really know anything about coffee? Or is Starbucks simply better at marketing what Alfred Peet and countless quality-focused independents did first?

Any baristas who serve the Clover'd coffee have specific info?

Thanks in advance.

[CoffeeMaster33]

I've had coffee brewed from a Clover for Cafe Artigiano, but never from a Starbucks. I'm really looking forward to trying it sometime. What I'm scared of happening though, is the baristas not caring enough to be excited and informed about the Clover. I can see them putting Clovers into stores with lots of Coffee Masters who actually care about coffee, and will take the time to talk with customers (and sometimes more importantly, other partners) about the coffees and the process.

This machine makes some simply amazing coffee, as long as care is taken in the selection and brewing of the beans. I also like that they're charging half of what I payed for my cup at Artigiano, and I've seen it more expensive than that at other places. Christmas Blend from a Clover? That sounds like it would be life-changing.

"This machine makes some simply amazing coffee, as long as care is taken in the selection and brewing of the beans"

There's the rub. An amazing Clover coffee starts w/ amazing beans. Its cheaper because Starbucks has a practice of treating coffee as a commodity and buying cheaper beans (which meet their price points). I believe you can get a great cup from Starbucks but it will be a $2.75 cup.

Caffe Artigiano and Starbucks are operating at different levels of quality and their respective prices reflect that.

[Melody]

Anon - the Clover coffee cost an arm and a leg. It's expensive in my opinion. I wonder why this hasn't tanked? I routinely pay over $3 for a cup of coffee. I'm NOT talking about a sugar-milk-latte. The beans that Starbucks offers WITH the Clovers are priced to make my eyes pop out. A pound of Kenya Gitchatha-ini (sp?) is $24 a pound, btw.

The roast date on the Clover coffee is fresher too. It seems as though most of the Starbucks coffees in the clover were roasted within 3 weeks of when consumed. So it's roasted, flavor-locked, and opened either that day or within just a couple of days, and in your cup, all within 3 weeks or less, in my experience.

I think Starbucks is doing this right, I'm just totally stumped who this is really being marketed to.

[#1]

Hi, Melody. I agree that $3 is a lot for a Starbucks customer and I'm definitely confused as well as to who Starbucks is marketing this to.

I had a much longer response typed up but let me surmise it like this: Do you remember Hardees'/Carl Jr's infamous "$6 Burger"? Clover does not fit w/ Starbucks as a restaurant-style burger does not fit w/ Hardees.

Clover is an upgrade over Starbucks drip so ideal customers (like you) will pay more for it. The thing is, though, you're an ideal customer and not necessarily Starbucks' normal customer. And I do not mean that as a slight to Starbucks normal customers at all.

[CoffeeMaster33]

I think Starbucks can do this better than Cafe Artigiano. The employee I dealt with had basically no idea about their Clover. I asked what coffees they had available for it, and she had to go back and grab the beans, and then just read me the names off the open bags that were sitting on the counter. It also took about a third as long as I was expecting (I thought it took as long as four minutes per cup?). They didn't even say anything when it was ready; they just put it beside the till. I had to walk over and assume it was mine. I think Starbucks can make this a more interactive experience, especially with food pairings and whatnot. This could be good.

[J]

The firmware of the pre-Starbucks Clovers only allowed sizes as large as 16 oz. Any word on whether this has changed for the units now being rolled out, or will Starbucks not offer Clovers in Venti sizes?

Clover brewers...? Deck chairs on the Titanic, anyone?

Hi! First time posting here.

Even though it's a bit late, I thought I'd talk about the Clover because I'm a barista from one of the SF stores that sells Clover. (Until next week when I transfer to another Starbucks to become a shift!)

They made a big deal about how SF has about most of the Clovers debuting in CA.

Some people were asking about who Clover is being marketed to. We had the Clover installed before it's debut so we had a soft launch where if anyone wanted to try a Clover, we'd charge them the price of a regular coffee. Most of the people who get Clover coffees are either customers who really like their coffee or people who wanted to know what is that thing that looks like a water fountain over a stove.

Our store had a nice advantage in being big. The Clover was installed on the counter next to our pastry case. We ut some chairs there and it's like our bar waiting area.

At our store, we have it that if anyone brews a Clover coffee, they must only concentrate on Clover and only Clover. I like it because your attention is pretty much on the customer and the Clover and can make great one-on-one experiences that customers can't necessarily get from waiting in line at register or bar. (Particularly at our store which is always busy with business people and tourists).

The coffee is delicious. We have literature on the coffees and we had some good training behind the Clover. One of the past comments talked about some baristas not knowing about Clover which is pretty bad because it's really simple to operate. I never knew about machines like Clover so seeing and operating it for the first time was great.

I doubt that they will expand Clover to Venti size. They don't fit!

[Ricky]

One last thing, training is key! We had baristas from other stores take over our store while we were all trained on Clover by our manager and our DM. We all had to make our own cup of Clover. It made things a lot more clear and easy for us to grasp because before all we heard about was how this was Starbucks biggest launch and on how much they are looking at the reception to it.

I usually work register so I got a lot of customers that complained about Pike Place Roast. Perfect opportunity to talk about Clover.

There are not many complaints about price. Most of the people who get the Clover seem to be coffee aficionados, so they don't seem to care so much since they more than likely have a high quality French press at their house. Non-aficionados just look at how expensive looking the machine looks (and the cool rising filer!) and get why Clover prices are higher than the regular coffees

The regular coffees through the Clover taste better, but the coffees made specifically for the Clover are a lot better. If you try one, I highly recommend any of the African coffees. The Clover Kenya roast is amazing!

Hope that helps!

[nikki]

tons and tons of cafes had the clover before starbucks. i'm a barista (and no not for starbucks) and i've been seeing this machine since the coffee fest show in march in dc. in the end i think its just a really fancy french press and was rather disapointed with it's coffee. i'd rather spend my money on a latte