Self-Service Coffee "Restaurant"
Posted by Brandon | Posted in Business, Design | Posted on 08-02-2008
Tags: coffee, entrepreneurship, food & wine, retail
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Seeing is believing. It’s the whole reason people tour the Guinness factory. Because we all stare in awe as hops get crushed, tableside chefs prepare Japanese cuisine or even when our cars get washed.Following in-step with experiential branding principles, Mike Caswell founded Roasting Plant in New York’s Lower East Side. After years developing technology to make the freshest cup of joe, the coffee stop has attracted a loyal, highly-caffeinated following. It’s no surprise given the technology they’ve developed to automatically roast, brew, and serve your drink of choice. It’s more of a coffee restaurant than a coffee shop.
With a menu ranging from mild Guatemala bean to stronger Sumatra, shots come a-la-carte to customize. As soon as you say ‘for here’ a micro-batch of the beans you chose flies through overhead pipes to get roasted in front of your eyes. The product never even gets touched by human hands.
And if even Howard Schultz acknowledges that the Starbucks experience is being commoditized, its no wonder new sensory-engaged coffee shops are popping up.
Check out this video to see the operation in action.
While most places serve stale coffee and this would seem to mark a tremendous improvement, unfortunately fresh roasted coffee needs to sit at least 24 hours to let all its gasses out (CO2, etc.) — otherwise the resulting cup will taste “gassy”. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Caswell has opted for show over quality, because it’s really a blown opportunity to improve the dreck most places serve.
swag,
You are actually on to something here. The point isn’t that they serve the best cup of coffee in New York (in fact, probably far from it). Instead, they have opted to sell an experience that is remarkable. That is what people are talking about. And to be frank, a great cup of coffee is rarely good enough to talk about to the extent this little shop is being talked about. When was the last time a single coffee shop got such buzz? Whether or not people continue to come back, is probably more dependent upon the quality. But maybe not. Consumers make choices every day that have nothing to do with quality.
Thanks for the great point!
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