January 10, 2008

Clover - The Ultimate Single Serve Machine for $11,000

SingleServeEspresso.com has found a single serve coffee machine that will only set you back a modest $11k. Is this the ultimate or best single serve coffee maker? The Clover makes a single serve cup of coffee using ground coffee beans and is based around a 4500 watt boiler that can run on 240 volt service. The idea is that an espresso cafe can set these up to run fresh grounds through whenever a customer orders up a coffee, much like how the espresso machine runs.

We found a really amazing video over at Chow that shows how the Clover works, and it had better work really well for $11k.

Here's how the Clover makes a cup of single serve coffee:

Hot water from the Clover’s boiler is added to the grounds.
After steeping, the piston is forced upward, creating a vacuum beneath it.
The vacuum draws the brewed coffee down through the screen and the valves of the piston, straining out the grounds.
The drain valve opens and the piston moves down, pushing the fresh coffee out into an awaiting cup.
The piston moves to the top of the brewing cylinder, where the spent grounds can be easily wiped off into the nearby receptacle.

We are pretty excited to get a cup of single serve coffee produced from a Clover (we don't think they'll send us an $11,000 dollar machine to review - but we can ask). We found a cafe in the Boston area in Jamaica Plain where we intend to try out some Clover produced coffee. You can use the Clover Finder to find a Clover near you. We hope the Clover makes the best cup of single serve coffee we've ever had, but it might be or might not be the best single serve coffee maker.

Via SingleServeEspresso.com, Gizmodo, and Chow at Clover

You can also check out all of our reviews in 2004-2007 of the best single serve coffee makers you can buy for under $11,000. :-)

Read More in: Single Serve Coffee Machines