The Opryland resort does have a couple of traditional Starbucks coffee shops with human baristas. I paid over $4 for a venti dark roast. At a "normal" Starbucks back home in Iowa, a venti at Starbucks costs about $2.50.
Walking around on the convention center side of the resort one night, I stumbled upon the Starbucks coffee robot I mentioned. You swipe your credit card for payment, select your coffee, and then the machine grinds the beans and brews a cup. There is no human server involved, and you can get a fresh cup of coffee 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from a fully-automated coffee vending machine.
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| Starbucks Coffee Robot |
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| Starbucks Coffee Robot, Close-up |
For one thing, the orders are simpler from the robot since the drink selection is limited so the line would move faster. The limited selection of drinks doesn't matter to me since I order black coffee anyway.
Another benefit of ordering coffee from the robot is that the beans are ground right when the coffee is brewed. I am not sure how often the beans are ground at the standard Starbucks with human operators, but I know they do not grind the beans right before brewing. They have bins of ground coffee around. So for me, seeing the beans ground just before brewing is an advantage.
Also, I noticed that my venti dark roast that was served by a human barista was dispensed from a tank. I am sure it was brewed recently, but I don't really know how fresh it was. With the robot, you always get a fresh brew since it is brewed when you order it.
What would you think of getting your coffee served at Starbucks by a robot instead of a human? I could imagine that Starbucks could set up some of these machines in the store to help make lines go faster for people who just want coffee.
Copyright © 2018 Dr. Penny Pincher. All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal
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