SOURCE: Clover

August 23, 2007 09:00 ET

21st Street Coffee and Tea Brings Clover Brewing Power, Hot New Coffee Trends to Pittsburgh

With New Brewing Techniques and Educational Tastings, 21st Street Coffee and Tea Aims to Change Pittsburgh's View of the "Daily Grind"

PITTSBURGH, PA--(Marketwire - August 23, 2007) - There will soon be a shiny new machine on the front counter of 21st Street Coffee and Tea, and it promises to change the local view of a morning cup of brew. It's the Clover, the new brewed coffee machine that has people buzzing from Seattle to Stockholm, and now in Pittsburgh. The first Clover brewer in Western Pennsylvania will be unveiled on August 25, 2007, from 4 - 7 p.m. during "Clover Day" at 21st Street Coffee and Tea.

Americans imbibe more than 400 million cups of coffee each day, but many don't give their daily cup much thought once it's ordered. However, coffee -- like wine -- has many different varietals, growing regions and processes, each of which results in producing the unique characteristics of an individual coffee. With award-winning coffees selling for record-breaking prices at upwards of $100 per pound for unroasted beans, coffee lovers have proven they're willing to pay a premium for a clearly better product. The Clover matches superior coffee with superior brewing technology, allowing customers to taste the differences between similar coffees and choose their favorite based on their personal flavor preferences.

Each coffee's subtleties shine best given specific settings. Even a slight adjustment of any of these parameters -- grind size, dose, water temperature or contact time -- affects the flavor and body of the coffee. Like a French Press or Vacuum Pot, the Clover extracts a coffee's flavors by suspending the grounds in hot water. Its precision brewing system then forces the brewed coffee back through the grounds with patented Vacuum-Press technology, requiring a fraction of the time of other single-cup methods. With the Clover, baristas have more control over the factors that go into the brewing process, maximizing the flavor signature of each and every bean.

In celebration of "Clover Day," 21st Street Coffee and Tea, located in Pittsburgh's Strip District at 50 21st Street, will be offering samples of their many award-winning coffees, including a fine selection of direct trade varieties from Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea. Industry experts from the Coffee Equipment Company, Intelligentsia and 21st Street Coffee and Tea will also be offering attendees "Coffee 101," a selection of informative demos on coffee roasting, brewing and tasting. To boot, live music, tasty snacks and prizes will ensure a fun time is had by all. Interested coffee drinkers can learn more about 21st Street Coffee and Tea and the upcoming "Clover Day" online at www.21streetcoffee.com.

About 21st Street Coffee and Tea

21st Street Coffee and Tea, formerly known as Caffé Intermezzo, is a family owned and operated business with two locations in downtown Pittsburgh. They serve only the highest quality espresso drinks, coffees and teas by sourcing the finest coffee and tea, brewing it with cutting edge equipment from world class manufacturers, and serving it in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

All 21st Street Coffee and Tea coffees are sourced from Intelligentsia of Chicago (2007 Roaster of the Year); the coffee is brewed/sold within two weeks of its roast date. Also, the coffees are bought at well above fair-trade prices to reflect the farmers' attention to the highest quality in the cup. With this fine coffee, drinks are prepared by expertly trained staff at their optimal time and temperature using equipment from Synesso and Clover, both of Seattle. 21st Street Coffee and Tea is the first coffee shop in Pennsylvania to combine world class coffees with world class equipment and training.

About The Coffee Equipment Company

The Coffee Equipment Company (CEC) is a small but mighty coffee equipment developer and manufacturer based in Seattle. Founded in 2004 by Zander Nosler and Randy Hulett, CEC is intensely focused on solving old problems with new ideas, and holding quality above all else -- in coffee, in equipment, and in how the two come together. Believing wholeheartedly in the tradition of brewed coffee, CEC aims to create brewing technologies worthy of the world's finest beans; technologies that simplify the brewing process and consistently deliver astonishingly good coffee. Additional information on The Coffee Equipment Company can be found at www.cloverequipment.com.