The Future Of Coffee

Late last year, I went on a cruise. The cruise ship had a robotic bartender
that would serve you drinks that you ordered from a tablet in the bar. Of
course, this was the first thing that I wanted to check out; a delicious piece
of technology awaiting me on a vacation.When we got the bar, it was a bit
underwhelming to see the arm make the drink. There was a cool display that
showed what drink was coming up and whose order it was. It was really easy to
order something really specific or abstract, but, on the other hand, it didn't
feel like it was faster than a human making the drink. It felt like it was
something in Beta and was just cool to look at during a vacation.Last Friday,
I was sitting in a Starbucks drive through, like I do most Fridays before I go
to work. I typically order the exact same beverage. It was a little later than
I usually go and the line was a little longer. You know the drill. They made a
mistake on my order and it was a very human thing to do. I wasn't mad as I
worked in the food service industry before. You can't be 100% all the time.
It's just not possible.The Launch festival was early this month. I always try
to check out the companies that get featured. The winner of the competition
was a company called Cafe X.Open today serving fresh illy coffee! 610 Nathan
Road, Mong Kok. Posted by Cafe X on That looks amazing, doesn't it? Can't you
just picture that inside your office in five years? Why Does This Matter?The
robotic bartender was a good start. It showed us some of the possibilities of
what could we really do with it. Do we really want to wait?Cafe X claims to be
able to serve you coffee in just under 10 seconds. The machine looks like it
is something that could replace baristas at Starbucks. I can see a day where
you order from your car, drive over, and the drive through line is almost
nonexistent. There is some sort of authentication and then your coffee comes
out of a slot. We could be looking at a step into the future of food and food
services.