In tandem with the Clover test rollout in Seattle yesterday, Starbucks [SBUX] also announced that there would be specially selected coffee beans released to be used in conjunction with the Clover brewers. Matching the “small” boutique-iness of the Clover brewing process, small batch coffee releases will accompany the Clover devices in their rollouts.
For this September, there are four beans named, in a flowery language description (from the press release):
- Distinctive citrus juiciness of Costa Rica Agrivid
- Herbal overtones of El Salvador Pacamara
- Subtle cherry and currant notes of Tanzania Blackburn Estate and
- A soft finish of Zambia Kasama
The part that most interests me about the beans is that they’re supposedly only going to be available at the Starbucks locations that come equipped with a Clover: this obviously means that, unless I’m currently near one of the Seattle stores right now, I won’t be able to grab some of the Tanzania Blackburn Estate and Zambia Kasama beans anytime soon. And to make matters more interesting, the whole beans will be hand-dispensed, like in Starbucks’ old days.
While the test rollout occurred in Seattle, there are two other cities named for the next phase in test rollouts:
- Boston (was there once for an APMA Annual Conference a few years ago)
- San Francisco (been there repeatedly for JavaOne Conferences)
