If you haven’t heard of the Clover, you aren’t a coffee snob; and if you aren’t a coffee snob, then you won’t care, and this post is not for you. That said, if you’ve already had a cup of coffee from a Clover, then consider yourself both lucky and in the vanguard. Very few cafes already have this wonderful piece of equipment. How few? See this screenshot from Clover’s website:

Look toward Florida and you’ll see that only one coffee house in the entire state makes the list. It just happened to be in the Metro West area of Orlando, not far from me. Which meant I had to pay a visit.

Credit where credit due: My friend and ex-coworker at Starbucks, Lisa, made this find. And she blasted into the Starbucks where I was sitting and told me to drop whatever I was doing and join her on a mission. A mission to find an amazing cup of coffee. A mission which was very successful.

The Coffee Tasting

First, we tried a cup of Brazil Fazenda Cachoeria da Grama Cup of Excellence, which got a whopping 92 from Coffee Review. To give you an idea what this means, only one Starbucks coffee ever got a 90 from Coffee Review (Serena Organic Blend, in 2004). So, these are fantastic coffees. In the first cup, I tasted honey, something I’d never tasted in a coffee before. A bit of lemon, and a bunch of cedar, followed by this distinct honey taste and a tea-like herbal bent that I love in coffee. It went down smooth, and it tasted crisp and refreshing. Fantastic.

Our second cup was Esmeralda Especial Panama, which got a 94. Esmeralda was stronger, with more lemon and floral notes, and another surprising taste: menthol. Yes, menthol. I did not taste it at first, to my disappointment, since it was clearly mentioned in the review. Then, Long, long after I had finished the cup, it finally hit me, and it was like nothing I’ve tasted in a coffee. What a kick.

The Machine

What about the machine itself? Well, a lot depends on the person operating it, but it’s mostly automated, so the chance of screwing it up aren’t any greater than the chance of screwing up a French Press. The Clover works something like an automated, reverse press: instead of leaving all the grinds sitting at the bottom and pressing down, the grinds get ejected out the top of the machine when the cup is finished.

We got to the Clover-equipped coffee house just 15 minutes before it closed for the day, and had to rush things. This means I’ll be coming back for a more thorough look at the Clover.