Clover at Tinderbox (Glasgow)

[scook94]

Was in Tinderbox on Ingram Street in Glasgow today and there was a Clover behind the counter.

I asked the guy taking the orders how long they'd had it and apparently only since yesterday. I'd already ordered, so I didn't get the chance to see how proficient they are at using it. Next time I will. They had a selection of beans to put through it too...

He seemed to think they are the first in the UK to get one, unless someone else knows different?

[Tristan]

I'd be interested to see how people get on with these in a busy environment.

A lot of money for a machine that still needs stirring...

[BazBean]

I am with Tristan with this one I think
Do i still WANT one ... hell Yeh, but only to add to my toys list

[lukas]

I found the discussions about the clover on coffeed.com quite useful. It is a great device, but the discussions bring a bit of down-to-earth to it for me. Still remember all the really wonderful cups of clover'd coffee I had in Bern ...

[Beanie]

I'm still jealous you got to have a (whose?) Harrar from it... that was gone by the time I got round to it

[keepitlikeasecret]

ahh so that's where the other tinderbox is! i have wandered round in circles (well, blocks really since its glasgow...) trying to find it before. only one block off now i look at a map.

i heard matthew algie had a clover since late 2006 and were using it for research in their lab only. was the first one in the uk, still think that holds true. maybe this clover has served its purpose in the lab and they've moved it out to the public domain to see how it goes. quite keen to check one out next time i am down there. wonder what SO they'll have to run on it.

[Tristan]

MA had one at Hotelympia on their stand. Square Mile have one too. MAybe the Tinderbox is the first one in the public domain...

[keepitlikeasecret]

tinderbox is just the shop front for the matthew algie/espresso warehouse company, so i guess that makes sense. did you try any coffee from the stand at hotelympia?

[kingseven]

Matthew Algie are the UK agents for Clover. I'd love to know what anyone thinks of the coffee they are serving from it.

We have one on loan in our roastery, I haven't bought one yet.

[Gouezeri]

... yet

[Olings]

We serve all our black coffee from it in our shop. It is a great success, and I love that we treat our black coffee customers the same way we treat our espresso drinkers. When was the last time you got served an espresso from a thermos?

It requires that you come up with individual profiles for different coffees and demand a bit more work when the line becomes long, but there's way less coffee wasted and the customers really love being pampered like that. We have a menu in the bar with all our coffees on it for our customers to choose from. My favorite time is when the odd mindless person comes in and wants "just" coffee and I force them to choose one from the menu. I think it raises awarness over what a wonderful cup of black coffee really can be from a fruity Kenyan, via a clean and pleasant Colombian to a full on nutty Indian.

...and when the customer replys that he or she wants just an ordinary cup of coffee I reply with a smile that we don't have any ordinary coffee, all our coffees are extraordinary!

Yay to a clean, full bodied and full of character clover coffee!!

And I don't even get paid for saying this...


Ola

[BazBean]

I sampled the Mathew Algie clover at hotel Olympia and yep it’s an extraordinary piece of kit that’s for sure and if the cost was ok... i would have one BUT from a business perspective for me it has yet to make sense?
At 5k I have to ask if i normally sell a press pot for £2 but with this marvel I can apparently charge £3 it still takes an eternity to recoup the costs and that’s not including servicing and replacements parts never mind profit.... probably breaks even at about the time either it blows up or the next generation is rolled out?

Obviously us purists are willing to pay extra for what it produces but will the great unwashed? Honestly I am not sure.... Yes the process itself produces open mouths and gasps but maybe that’s while it’s bright and shiny and Novel?

Just my thoughts fellas.... I still love it and the clover guys can probably handle my objections admirably but as maybe one of the target market that’s just what springs to mind is all.

If the price tag lowers they might have a taker ..... then again video players were once £600 before the R&D costs were clawed back and mass production kicked in.

[Gwilym]

to tinderbox
please take out those vacuum pumps in your Islington store & bring in a clover
maybe even a selection of beans?

[AlexV]

The selling price of the Clover is ridiculous. The price has nothing to do with the cost of manufacture, and more to do with the fact that there is no competition from anything else. The technology in this machine has been around for decades, and is used in hundreds of thousands of machines around the world.

[Hugo]

I made a 'home clover' the other day.... an upside down aeropress (thanks for that one Master Townsend) a jug of water on the stove, a thermometer and a stop watch.

Total cost, sub £15. I sell the aeropress in my shop (cost price to me, then) , the rest I won from the nice folk at Beyond the Bean in my barista kit.

Love the absurdity of the commercial world...