| rev:text
| - It's strange reviewing as Starbucks because one of the most important things about Starbucks is its predictability... and the fact that people who love it love, and those who don't really don't.
A couple things distinguish this Starbucks. The Clover machine makes it worth a visit; the staff make it worth a return; but the clientele *might* make you want to get out quickly.
1) Its staff is usually phenomenal -- friendly, efficient, engaged. I think they're among the best in Toronto, and I imagine it's a tough Starbucks to work at.
2) Its clientele is unique. This is the heart of Forest Hill, so this outlet is often teeming with wealthy adults and students from the nearby girls private school. The girls tend to come in hoards at specific times and they seem to order labour-intensive drinks. So, if you find yourself at the end of the line at 4:00 on a weekday, expect to wait a little while. The adults are interesting because they are particular, demanding and 'important'; they know what they want and they want it done right, now (before their idling double-parked Lexus SUV gets a ticket). This is a caricature, but spend some time here and you may find that it's not inaccurate. This clientele also goes to show how special the staff is, because they manage to get so many of these types in and out quickly and satisfied.
3) The Clover. This is one of the few outlets in Canada offering Clover-brewed coffee. Starbucks found the machine so impressive that the corporation labelled it a game-changer and purchased its manufacturer. It looks to be the size of an amplifier, and costs more than a cheap car. It makes a individual cup of the coffee blend of your choice, right before your eyes, and it's very cool to watch. It involves an up-and-down moving filter, a boiling-water spigot, a vacuum suction, together in what might seem to be a Rube Goldberg apparatus. The barista grinds your coffee, the filter lowers and the grinds get dumped in. That part gets filled with hot water and mixed. When it's ready (and this internet-connected machine is so smart, apparently, that it gathers the optimal timing, temperature, etc. for each blend), the filter rises and falls as the perfectly-brewed coffee is vacuumed out. The result is a truly delicious serving of the coffee blend you really wanted (and they offer a few specialty blends to try, Clover-style). According to the Starbucks website, Clover's innovative design "lets you discover new layers and dimensions within a coffee's familiar aroma, flavor, body and acidity." They claim: "We're pretty sure it will be the best cup of coffee you've ever tasted." I tend to dismiss statements like these as puffs but, in this instance, I think Starbucks might be right.
A Clover-brewed coffee will set you back a bit more than an ordinary cup of brewed coffee: $2.45 for a Grande Verona, and for the reserves, $3.45 for a Grande Ethiopia Sidamo, or $3.95 for a Grande Blue Java. See if you like it. IMHO, it's totally worth it, once in a while.
4 Stars? I'm working on a 3-star baseline for Starbucks generally. The staff and the Clover bring it up, but the after-school rush and the occasionally-inconsiderate customers take it down a little bit.
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