Starbucks coffee like fine wine? Not from market testing in my 'hood.

Tired of my own company after being stuck at home 24 hours with the stomach flu, this blogger decided to do a little coffee (let's hope it stays down!) taste test in my own neighborhood, Beacon Hill.  Since reading about Starbucks big Pressed Coffee taste test on the cover of this week's Beacon Hill Times, I decided to see what all the fuss was about and see how Starbucks was marketing it to the 'hood.

A bit of background first.  We actually have three Starbucks on Beacon Hill.  This particular one at 1 Charles Street has a lot of neighborhood traffic (including me most days) and a lot of tourist traffic on weekends and throughout the summer as it's just across the street from the Boston Common and is situated between the Massachusetts State House and the Cheers Bar.  This particular Starbucks is one of six locations chosen for the big taste test.  There are two other locations in Boston (Harvard Square and Boston's Financial District) and the other three locations are in Seattle.

Checking Out The Clover Brewing System for Myself

This new $11,000 coffee press designed by two Stanford University graduates in 2005, is a one-cup-at-a-time brew that's a sort of combo French press and vacuum press.  Because it's made to order, customers can try any it with any coffee bean that Starbucks has rather than make their coffee selection from the several brewed daily for drip coffee.  (Although the taste test is only offered with six coffee choices.)

This giant coffee press isn't nearly as cute as the French Press that I've got at home and it's a little inelegant in the way it makes coffee.  As the coffee brews, the grounds rise to the top of the press in a brown foamy layer that gets scraped off with a special little scraper sitting in a glass next to the machine and it leaves the fresh brewed coffee behind.  I ordered a tall (in Starbucks lingo, that's a "small") cup, but they gave it to me in a grande (in Starbucks lingo, that's a "medium") so that I'd have room for a little milk.

So, how's it taste?

I liked it both before and after I added whole milk.  As one of those people who refers to Starbucks as Charbucks because I think their coffee usually tastes a little burnt, I thought that it tasted much better than the brewed coffee I usually get there.  It's not available as a non-fat latte which is what I generally order, but who knows on a slow day, maybe the baristas can get a little creative.  I wouldn't say that it has the quality of a fine wine as the co-founder of the coffee maker says in statements about it.

Starbucks must think it's a hit because they are acquiring the company that makes the Clover Press just five weeks after they started the six-location taste test.  Says Howard Schultz, chairman, president, and CEO of Starbucks in the press release “The Clover brings drama and theater to the brewing process and enables our baristas to have emotionally rich conversations with our customers.”

The pressed coffee costs a little more per cup than the brewed coffee, with a tall selling for $2.25 per cup.  After I fill out a market research study online, Starbucks is going to mail me a $5 Starbucks card so I'll get my taste test investment back (and more).  As part of the coffee press experience (and because it takes a little longer to make) Starbucks has an open journal out in front of the Clover press so that customers can express their thoughts while they wait (in case the barista is too occupied to have an emotionally rich conversation).  This blogger picked out a few comments from happy and not so happy customers.  All in all, I think the new pressed coffee is here to stay and should be coming to a Starbucks near you in the not too distant future.