Starbucks tries brew with a more premium price
Chain testing new coffee machine in Dunkin's backyard
Starbucks Corp.'s luck could change with the help of a clover, but not the four-leaf kind. Instead, the Seattle coffee giant is seeking a boost from the Clover brewing system, a sophisticated machine that turns out customized cups of coffee at a premium price.
The system is being tested in Boston and Seattle, but the company is expected to say today that it is rolling out more Clovers in the two cities and will introduce them in San Francisco.
About 30 Starbucks shops in the Boston area will get the machines, compared with 10 in Seattle and an undisclosed number in San Francisco. They will debut Sept. 9 in Boston and today in Seattle. The San Francisco date has not been finalized.
The Boston market is of special importance because it allows Starbucks to test Clover against its major competitor, Canton-based Dunkin' Donuts, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic Inc., a Chicago consulting firm. Starbucks has about 200 stores in Massachusetts, while Dunkin' Donuts has about 1,100.
Dunkin' Donuts declined to comment.
"Everyone else is starting to offer better quality of coffee," Tristano said. Coffee made one cup at a time, he said, can help Starbucks stores distinguish themselves "through their experience and the barista and their knowledge and their ability to interact with the customer."
Still, the move to promote a more expensive beverage comes as some consumers are cutting back on spending because of the shaky economy, and less than two months after Starbucks said it would close 600 underperforming stores, including seven in Massachusetts. If the company has any doubts about Clover's timing, however, it isn't making them known.
"We are making bold moves toward transforming our business for the long term and at the same time making the tough decisions to ride out this extremely challenging economic environment," said Joe Dallacqua, Starbucks' vice president of regional operations. "The Clover delivers a one-of-a-kind brewed coffee experience that fits with Starbucks' long history of coffee expertise."
Clover customers will be able to choose from a new collection of small-batch coffees, some of which may be rare and available for a limited time. It takes about a minute to brew a cup, depending on the type of coffee and customer preferences.
The price can vary from store to store, but the Starbucks at 1 Charles St. - one of the Boston pilot stores - charges $1.65 for a regular "tall" coffee and $2.25 for a Clover brew of the same size. In general, Clover coffee ranges in price from $2 to $4, the company said.
Many independent coffee shops were using the system before April, when Starbucks acquired the Clover system's maker, Coffee Equipment Co. One of them, Velouria Espresso in Jamaica Plain, said the machines may actually boost his business.
"I have an opportunity to compare my product, the coffee itself, to the Starbucks product," said owner Justin McCarthy. "I'm waiting for the opportunity for people to compare them and decide for themselves."
With a Clover machine, brewers can set the time and temperature of the selected coffee to accommodate the characteristics of the bean selected. Vacuum-press technology pulls the coffee through a 70-micron filter in which "every hole is like a hair's breadth," said David Latourell, formerly of Coffee Equipment Co. and now a Starbucks employee. The Clover "really brings coffee back into focus" for Starbucks, Latourell said.
The Clover's "unique sort of extraction" allows flavors to come out of the coffee, said Anthony Carroll, who selects coffees for Starbucks.
"The flavor is already there. Clover really helps just accentuate them," Carroll said. "You're going to discover a whole bunch of different flavors in their coffees that you didn't know would or should be there."
Jess Torres, 26, a Starbucks customer who has tasted several Clover brews, said he doesn't mind paying a little more for "much better coffee."
"It's better than the way they usually brew their coffee," Torres said, "but if they had better and some lighter roasted beans it would be even better."
Elizabeth Campbell can be reached at ecampbell@globe.com. 