Coffee with an $11,000 Price Tag

As I deliberated over coffee beans in my neighborhood grocery store, the guy next to me struck up a conversation. It was run-of-the-mill small talk at first, but soon he was swooning over Grape + Bean, a combo wine-and-coffee shop that had just opened in nearby Alexandria, Virginia. Clearly still on a caffeine high from his visit, he was positively rapturous over the “best cup of coffee he’d ever had.” Intrigued, I pressed for details—after all, anyone who knows me at all understands coffee is my true love (sorry, Noah). And a couple of weeks later, I hopped on D.C.’s Metro on a pilgrimage to check the place out for myself. 

Just off bustling King Street in Alexandria’s adorable Old Town, Grape + Bean beckons with a cozy-but-classy feel (hardwood floors, exposed brick walls) and a friendly barista manning the coffee bar’s coveted gem: the much-buzzed-over Clover, only one of about 200 such high-end machines scattered throughout the world that brews coffee (not espresso) on a cup-by-cup basis. Produced by a small Seattle company, the machine costs a mean $11,000 and is for the bean connoisseur, or, really, anyone who’s willing to shell out more than $3 for a cup of joe. Sort of like a French press, the Clover precisely micro-manages each variable of the brewing process (temperature, time, et al), ensuring each cup’s quality is consistent. At Grape + Bean, each cup steeps for 44 seconds, though you can request longer or shorter if you know what you want.

Slate’s Paul Adams managed to get his hands on a Clover to tinker with the brewing process. In his words: “I'm sure I'm not the first Clover user to experience a quick flashback to a vivid childhood memory—watching, horrified, as Darth Vader lowers Han Solo into his carbonite freezer.”

Grape + Bean gets its coffee from Counter Culture, a roaster in Durham, North Carolina, that’s dedicated to sustainable, fair trade beans. On my visit, I chose the 14-ounce cup of Microlot ($3.25), a limited-edition bean from Colombia, among a menu offering six brews (including one that is naturally decaffeinated), which had a rich, nutty flavor.

Beyond the coffee bar, the shop so far is primarily a boutique selling unique and high-quality, small-batch wines (priced from around $10 a bottle to upwards of $100) as well as a small selection of artisanal beers, handmade cheeses (Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog, French vacherin) and chocolate (Alexandria’s Kingsbury). They also have baked-fresh-daily baguettes and ciabatta by local baker Nathan Hatfield of Restaurant Eve, and a few high-end kitchen tchotchkes. Once they get their permits in place, co-owner Sheera Rosenfeld says the shop will also offer wine by the glass, hopefully by this summer. Friday evenings, Grape + Bean hosts wine tastings from 5 to 7 p.m.

My verdict? Though I’m not ready to proclaim the coffee was my best ever (superlatives are always too risky for this researcher), I’ll definitely go back for more. And if I lived in the neighborhood? I can only fear the damage the place would wreak on my wallet.

Photos: Jamie Ray

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Comments

[Kango Suz]

In Virginia? Wow. I knew they had good wineries but the cool new coffee house sounds great...
-S

[Noah]

It should be mentioned that Starbucks recently purchased the company that makes the Clover, so hopefully it will still be available for (really high end) independent coffee places to purchase.

Also, I'm pretty sure I paid for the cup of coffee that inspired this lengthy ode to Katie's "true love". That's cold, Katie.

[Michael]

I'm in Milwaukee and Alterra Coffee Roasters (http://alterracoffeepro.com/) has a Clover. I had a chance to sample a some coffee when Alterra had their Clover at the Great Lakes Regional Barista Competition in Mid-March (http://alterracoffeepro.com/blog/single/great_lakes_regional_barista_competition_2008/) and can concur with Slate's Paul Adams opinion - that the Clover can produce one fantastic cup of coffee. I would like to add that since all of the settings are almost infinitely variable, it is possible to produce and outstanding cup of coffee as well as a terrible cup of coffee.