When Chowder attends a tasting dinner, the liquid accompanying the food is typically a form of alcohol. We’ve done wine tastings, beer tastings, even tequila tastings, but last week we attended a coffee tasting dinner at Sauciety.

The event was held by Starbucks to herald the arrival of Clover, a new high-tech coffee machine, along with several small-batch varieties of coffee specially purchased for the device. We happily sipped on a cup of El Salvador Pacamara as a barista demonstrated how the Willy Wonka-esque machine works.

“This is highly caffeinated,” she explained. Since an evening cup of regular-strength coffee keeps us up well past our bedtime, we made our peace with the prospect of a restless night ahead.
(more…)