by Lars H
I’ve always been interested in unique commercial coffee and espresso machines, so whenever I hear about a new one, I search around to see if any coffee shop near me is using it, so that I can see it for myself, try a coffee from it and ask a barista about it if they aren’t too busy with a line of customers.
When I learned of the Ground Control and the claim that it can make drip coffee, batch espresso and even tea, I had to check it out for myself. And the good news was that the Cultivar coffee shop near White Rock Lake in Dallas was listed as one of the shops that uses their machine! So I jumped in the car and drove over to try it.
When I arrived at around 10 a.m., they had already brewed a big batch of regular drip coffee, which they had in an insulated container, ready to pour when I ordered a cup.
I noticed that it was in use right that moment, and the barista explained that they were currently making coffee concentrate. I forgot to ask how they use the coffee concentrate at that shop, but typically it’s used to have ready to make things like an instant cold brew or cold latte drinks, etc.
The barista said that they do not use the machine at Cultivar to make batch espresso drinks, and instead just use their actual espresso machine which is right next to the Ground Control. They were primarily using it for drip coffee, coffee concentrate and cold brew. The barista also mentioned tea, but I’m not sure if they actually make tea at that location with it, or if he was just telling me about the general capability.
So how was the drip coffee from a Ground Control commercial coffee brewing machine? Excellent!
Although they had batch brewed the coffee earlier and were serving it from an insulated container, the temperature was still nice and hot and the coffee tasted perfectly fresh.
Specifically, the flavor notes of the coffee were good, with mostly mainstream notes and a little bit of “speciality coffee” notes, but not too sour or fruity. After I tried it black, I added a small splash of half and half and finished the rest of the coffee that way. There was no bitterness or burnt taste to the coffee.
I give coffee from a Ground Control brewer a thumbs up. I would have been interested in trying a batch espresso from it to see what that was like, but they unfortunately don’t use their machine that way.
Lars H is the publisher and founder of Clearly Coffee. His current superautomatic machines of choice at home are his Jura Ena 4 for regular coffee and a Krups superautomatic for decaf. He also has a grinder, a Chemex and an Aeropress sitting around, ready to go. Lars H completed the Speciality Coffee Association Intro to Coffee course.