Automatic coffee technology is more advanced, but can it really replace the barista?

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The last time I wrote an automatic coffee maker, I searched the Internet for information, and then I was surprised to find that in addition to the automation of hand brewing, even many of the production processes of semi-automatic espresso machines could be automated, and then branded as "groundbreaking inventions". Is it true that "technology comes from inertia"? Today, let's take a look at some other lan duo automatic machine inventions in the coffee industry.

Introduction of advanced automatic coffee equipment

1 、 Puqpress

Puqpress consists of two English words: Puq (puck) pressed powder + Press filling. You can know their product from the brand name: automatic pressed powder filling machine. In espresso, the most difficult step to maintain consistent quality is actually pressing powder. Too much pressure will lead to excessive extraction, and too little pressure will lead to insufficient extraction. The most common problem is uneven strength, resulting in pressed powder high and low resulting in channel effect (channeling, water will flow to the space with less resistance, thus causing coffee pressed powder to over-extract while underextracting). Even if you have the most advanced Force powder hammer, you can avoid the above powder strength problems, but powder pressing for a long time can also cause work-related injuries to baristas, so you have Puqpress this product. According to the company's website, Puqpress ensures that the pressing power is consistent, even if the barista is on duty, so the delicious quality of the coffee is more stable.

2 、 Ubermilk / Juggler / Perfect Moose

Is it hard to grind beans? So we have an automatic bean grinder; is it difficult to press powder? So we have a powder press; espresso is difficult? So we have an automatic espresso machine; is it hard to foam? So we have an automatic foam machine!

The Juggler

Of the three brands mentioned above, Ubermilk and Juggler are the most advanced: they can automatically pour out a set amount of milk, reducing the barista's bending over to take and pour milk, as well as empty milk cartons, while Perfect Moose automatically bubbles the milk to a specified temperature and foam level. All the barista has to do is pour the milk into the espresso.

Perfect Moose

3 、 Cafe X / Sawyer / Once Alike / Coffee Haus

Now that we have talked about automation, let's automate to the end. Solemnly introduce the robot barista, as long as you order a drink and pay for it, you can watch the "barista" make coffee almost perfectly in every step. Without saying much, it is more interesting to look at the moving picture:

Cafe X

Once Alike

Sawyer

Take Briggo's latest Coffee Haus, a fully automated robotic coffee machine that can produce 100 cups of coffee in an hour, equivalent to the output of three or four baristas. The robot can mix Latin American coffee beans, make delicious coffee according to the app's order, and allow customers to control ingredients, espresso, seasonings and temperature without any human intervention.

Coffee Haus

The difference between automatic Coffee equipment, Robot Coffee and barista

The fully automated robot coffee machines above, you can call them either fully automatic coffee machines or robot "baristas". Compared with the traditional fully automatic coffee machine, the selling point of the robot coffee machine is not only stable production and reduced workflow, but also "without any human intervention". No one means there are no human errors, such as misspelled names (yes, here at Black Starbucks). The robotic coffee machine can directly automate the process from order payment to brewing and delivery, thus replacing the work of baristas. Even more high-speed than baristas, completely controllable, no matter how busy will not feel panic. It seems to be a great progress in the development of science and technology in the coffee industry.

However, is the truth really that simple? For coffee making, is brewing coffee really just as simple as water temperature, grinding and powder ratio? For selling coffee, is the service as simple as charging for delivery?

Automation takes away the ingenuity of the coffee brewing process. Indeed, many automatic coffee machines will be right-hand men for baristas, helping them to produce services more conveniently and stably. But at the same time, if all the complex and unstable production processes are handed over to automatic equipment, where does the barista's brewing technology come from? How to accumulate? The original intention of automation technology is to assist the barista's production, or dilute the barista's sense of existence? Can't baristas without automatic equipment make coffee well?

Cloth powder pressing powder can be automated, cooking and extraction can be automated, milk foam can also be automated, so as long as you keep the "florist"? Don't be silly, can the automatic flower drawing machine be far away? Even if there is no automatic flower-drawing machine, isn't 3D flower-drawing printing more visually effective than most baristas? So, when all the steps are almost automated, who will study the extraction and brewing of coffee? Who will adjust the parameters and flavor? Is Baristas a machine operator or a real "handle"?

Ubermilk

Coffee is an art that takes advantage of a variety of senses: the temperature of the cup, the aroma, taste, and visual enjoyment of the coffee. Visual enjoyment can be a latte, a way and equipment for making coffee by hand, or the focus of a barista. If you leave all the steps to the machine, the coffee will be a little less "human".

Coffee belongs to the service industry, so it should interact with customers. If automated baristas have more time to communicate with customers, then it is only necessary to hire an operator who knows how to operate the machine and will issue orders and collect money. why hire a senior barista with years of brewing experience with a high salary (not really high)? The same sentence: even if I didn't make it myself from Amurz, how can I get so many topics and experience to chat with customers?

The core of the coffee industry should be humanism and service, not convenience.

I have always believed that humanism is something that robots cannot provide. The so-called "humanized" menu setting of the robot coffee machine is just a "gimmick" from the head-on cold point single panel. The more advanced and cool robot coffee machine is essentially no different from the self-service coffee machine and vending machine in the office corridor. The robot can't recommend his favorite items, the robot can't discuss the latest gossip with you, the robot can't appease your anxiety caused by waiting in a long line in a hurry, and the robot won't praise your latest dress. As the first social networking contact for many people to wake up every day, baristas offer consumers more than a simple pick-me-up drink.

Robot technology is designed to replace humans to do dull, dirty and dangerous work, but baristas are none of them. Most of the baristas I meet like this job, and if there is no enthusiasm for coffee, then the coffee produced is not "warm" or "soulful". There is no human touch, and coffee itself is just a functional drink.

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