You stare at those cold, metallic arms brewing your morning joe with clinical precision and wonder — is this the future? Or is this the end?
Here are 5 things to know about to fifth wave coffee and robot baristas.
1.The latte is perfect. A beautiful golden crema is adorned by immaculate latte art. The taste is rich, but not overpowering, with subtle hints of chocolate, cherries and brown sugar. I take a whiff and a sip, and turn to pay and thank the barista but — a pair of robotic arms is already busy with the next customer. No thank you required, and the coffee is free.
2. The future of coffee claims to be all things — sustainable, cheap, efficient, delicious. I’m at the opening of Ratio Coffee at Ion Orchard, a swanky mall in the heart of Singapore’s premier shopping district. Ratio claims to be at the forefront of fifth wave coffee — a movement designed to deliver exceptional coffee and customer service at accessible prices, in a sustainable and technologically enabled manner.
3. The ordering process itself is relatively straightforward, and the coffee is cheap (or even free!) For Ratio’s soft launch, you can like Ratio Coffee’s Facebook or Instagram page, and order an espresso, long black or latte. Surely it’s fuelled by VC money.
4. While waiting, you’re treated to the show. Twin robotic arms move in perfect synchrony to deliver your shot of caffeine, engineered to perfection with the magic of Silicon Valley. A perfect amount of ground powder is dispensed, tamped, and extracted with ruthless efficiency, the robotic arm moving from station to station without any of the quirks that make human baristas so endearing. No powder spillages, no estimation errors, no labor unions. A second robot arm then collects and froths the milk (if you so desire), and then meets the first arm when ready — a robotic union that marries milk with espresso to create your perfect latte.
5. It all sounds too good to be true — and perhaps it is. The economics, for one, appear to be a bit dodgy. You’re telling me that there was someone who planted the coffee, harvested the beans, roasted them to perfection, packaged and shipped them across the world, designed robots to dispense, pack and extract that golden brew, and rented a snazzy storefront to deliver my latte (complete with latte art) — all for the low, low price of one Facebook like? How is this possible? And more importantly, once the venture capital funding runs out, can these kinds of firms continue to endure? The human element is also gone, and is the other worrying part of the equation. With Ratio and other robotic coffee providers, there are no workers beyond the human ushers and outlet managers. The art of the barista — so central to third wave coffee — is all but eliminated, as the robots take over with unerring (and homogeneous) skill. Gone is the banter, the smile, the casual oddities that make your coffeeshop so endearing. If I were a barista, I’d be terrified. Is this truly the future of coffee, or is the robocalypse finally upon us?
For now, I’m content to sip on my free latte — and ponder these questions while giving thanks to my robotic barista.
