I shelved my $40 Mr. Coffee maker home brewer and I now live with this machine. I have an iPod, I have a computer, I have a water bottle, but the Clover is substantial enough to say “I live with it”. Am I that obsessed with the Clover that I’m nigh on personifying it? Perhaps, but even living with someone (or something) brings along baggage. For example, the machine delivers a loud click/pop followed by an audible hum for about 1.5 seconds, then another click and audible hum again. These click-hum-click-hum noises last about three seconds and repeat themselves at eight minute intervals. It’s infrequent enough to drown out, but they can still be irritating. The Clover also takes up a decent amount of counter space. However, its most substantial characteristic probably is that it used to retail at $11,000. I can honestly admit this is the single most significant “upgrade” I’ve ever made.
Hooking up the machine is actually pretty simple, but for someone like me who hates home improvement, plumbing, or anything of these matters, it was still a frustrating experience. Thankfully my roommate’s dad, Del, offered to help plumb it for me. After three trips to the hardware store (of which I loathe), the disabling of my water filter (which I never use anyway), and some new hoses and pipes that still need to be tightened, the machine is up and running.
Okay, so how did I stumble upon this machine? You can read this previous post for some background information, but the short answer is that I certainly didn’t buy it, I don’t own it, it’s magikally on loan to me from my girlfriend. These facts are probably more reasons why I “live with” a Clover vs. “I have” a Clover. As a homeowner I have more liberty to mess around with plumbing. There are ways to hook up a Clover without plumbing it, but require some expensive equipment. Instead, it was my girlfriend’s idea to let it reside at my house. I gave her a single chance to rethink that offer with a question probably like the following:
- “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have it at your place so you can enjoy it?”
She insisted and was more than happy to let me enjoy it, so umm, I gave into her. :D It only cost me about $25 to hook up vs. the ~$400 it would have cost her. I’m trying to make this sound as reasonable and as legitimate as possible, but the reality is that my very very loving girlfriend has cheerfully blessed me with her Clover machine and I’m pretty excited about it.
I’ve now had coffee made from the Clover multiple times a day for several days in a row and the difference it makes is truly setting in. The coffee is always so smooth. There is no acid in these cups of coffee and I don’t need nearly as much cream or sugar. Yes, I still like cream and sugar despite the fact the light-saber of coffee brewers is sitting on my counter top. On the flip side, my stale coffee becomes much more obvious that it’s stale.
Here are some other cool things that can happen when you have a Clover in your house:
- When you go to a Starbucks with a Clover and the barista asks “have you every tried coffee from a Clover before?”, you can respond with a hearty “yes”…and then chuckle.
- When you go to a Starbucks with a Clover and you buy a pound of coffee and ask them to grind it for you, they may ask you “how would you like the coffee ground?”, or “for what kind of machine do you want your coffee ground?” and you respond “Grind it for a Clover”. They will likely give you a funny look…and then you chuckle.
- You tell your friend, colleague, etc. who used to work for Starbucks, does work for Starbucks, used to work in coffee, still works in coffee, etc., “yeah there’s a Clover in my kitchen” and their first thought is “WTF?”…and then you chuckle.
- You might even blog about living with it even though only 5 people will read your post.
- You create a savings by not buying coffee in cafes which you can put towards an expensive grinder.
- You might have an extra draw for when you throw parties and get-togethers. New Years at my place btw.
- Every morning each cup of coffee is brewed by a machine that makes cool robotic hydraulic sounds.
Yeah it’s pretty cool.
The big problem with the Clover, of course, is that without coffee with the right brightness and age of the roast, it’s kind of overkill.
It makes you wonder about all the people in the industry who are clear leaders — the Wattses, the Anackers, the Freemans, etc. — and at home they all generally prefer simple glass-and-filter Chemexes. I often wonder what they think when they enter people’s homes and see the Hummer-sized coffee equipment investments some people make.
Doesn’t Han Solo say “nothing like a good blaster at your side”? But everyone watching the movie knows the light saber owns even if it is complete overkill and can cut through three foot steel doors.
Well…this makes 3.
btw, if you ever find yourself without the clover, you might want to look up the Aeropress. It’ll cost you only as much as the plumbing did, and boy does it make a smooth cup o joe.
Some of the coffee “makers” that people are proud of often fall within the category of: “why did they make this anyway?” Clover is a world away from such questions. The Bentley of brew… BTW, how long does a good cup of coffee last before it must be drank? Can you put Clover in a thermos and take it to work with you?