April 28, 2008

New Starbucks Mastrena - Miracle Espresso Machine

So if you have been following the Starbucks news lately and have heard of their turn around plans, you have probably heard of the new miracle machine that they are betting the house on... or at least the store. The new Mastrena High Performance Espresso Machine at starbucks is being brought into the stores because the production line automation machines that are there now blew the feel of the place right out the door with their efficiency. No grinding, no hand tamping, no long waits, and as a result no magic. The Mastrena is supposed to bring back a little flair to the experience while keeping the production line efficiency that no doubt boosted the bottom line a while back.

The Mastrena is shorter and with the flying saucer orb on top to hold whole beans, it will get the store all aromatic and stuff as it grinds for your shot. I think that move in particular will help. In walking into a real cafe, the overpowering aroma of coffee has to hit you and embrace you; which just doesn't happen when the coffee is preground and stored in mylar air-tight bags only to be dumped into a hopper and auto-tamped.

I am not so sure that having the thing shorter is going to actually do anything for the banter or the chemistry of the place. I mean, I don't get much of that now, and never did. Anyway, they will be in 30 percent of the stores by the end of this year, and 75 percent by the end of 2010.

Via