Found this article in Design News, and have heard of this cafe before. Interesting concept but I can see some components that would be up for debate, and may come off a bit gimmicky. Was curious what some other bX'ers thought about this system.

(Excerpt of above article link)If Willy Wonka designed a coffee store, he would likely end up with something like the Roasting Plant Coffee Company in New York. Built around a complex machine that takes automated coffee production to a new level, Roasting Plant functions as much like a small factory as a retail coffee shop. Coffee beans travel overhead in pneumatic tubes, whooshing between storage bins, a roasting station, a grinder and a brewing machine.

You can learn more about the company on their website.

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Comment by Alex Negranza on May 1, 2008 at 2:40am
I don't even want to imagine the cleaning, but on the second hand, I would love to have something like this running trhough my house that actually allowed the coffee to be degassed via storage bins that I could use at will. Mmmm...Cool.
Comment by Brady on April 17, 2008 at 11:15am
Cleaning it has got to be a real pain too - look at all that clear plastic pipe. Gonna look really great in about 6 months.
Comment by Jason Dominy on April 17, 2008 at 6:24am
Maybe this is a practical question, but what happened to the degassing time? There is a large difference between coffees not degassed, and ones that are, and I can't believe it can happen within hours. But, ah, the age old battle of man vs. machine. We know who ultimately wins this one. This is no more different than a superautomatic with a self-loading hopper. Plus, can a robot really start your day out right with a smile, a warm gesture, a laugh? I think not.
Comment by Joe Marrocco on April 16, 2008 at 7:06pm
I agree,... very wonka. I do not think that the coffee would be nearly as refined as it would from a small batch roaster manned by an experienced Roast Master. I also don't like it that the coffee has no chance to off-gas. And,... we all know how bad automatic machines make espresso drinks.

On the other hand, I think that customers would flock to see this and drink the coffee. I see it is a good fleecing machine. It would be easy to convince a customer that is not a coffee expert that this machine produces the best coffee out there. It is a great marketing scheme.
Comment by Brady on April 16, 2008 at 5:34pm
Anybody been there? How's the coffee?

Now why doesn't somebody invent a to-go cup/lid combo that works in those bank drive-thru tubes?

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