The New York Times used words like “cult object,” “majestic,” and “titillating”; the Economist called it “ingenious” and “sleek.”

The subject of these encomiums is, incongruously, a commercial coffee machine—the Clover 1s, an $11,000 device that brews regular coffee (not espresso) one cup at a time.

The Clover’s real benefit to coffee-drinkers is the way it combines French press and vacuum methods to produce one of the best cups of coffee.

The Clover’s “VacuumPress” method, however, creates a vacuum to draw the water down through the grounds, extracting flavor and yet leaving them behind.