February 1, 2008
Watch Your Back, Barista - "Perfect" Coffee Doesn't Need You
Wouldn’t be caught dead with a “latte” from Starbucks or a Coolata from Dunkin Donuts? Well, you haven’t reached the summit of coffee snobbery until you’ve had the self-proclaimed “ultimate” cup of coffee, expertly prepared by computers and pneumatic tubes at the Lower East Side’s Roasting Plant. Since opening last spring, business has been hopping at the sleek Orchard Street café; coffee aficionados are drawn back as much for the fresh coffee as for the experience of seeing it made.
And here, fresh means fresh; at Roasting Plant, each cup is brewed on demand. Upon placing your order – perhaps a medium “Red Eye” with Ethiopian Harrar Longberry with a shot of Sumatra Mandheling – the precise amount of beans are suctioned up through overhead pipes to be brewed on demand. At no time are the beans handled by filthy, clumsy human hands. And during the day, beans are periodically vacuumed out of bins and whisked through the pipes to the in-store roaster; about 15 minutes later they’re sent to the bins to await their future in your refined palate.
Roasting Plant was started by Mike Caswell, an industrial engineer who adapted the machinery from a Swiss model. A choice of six single-origin beans can be blended to order; you can also splurge on a “flight” of different brews, each one designated by a labeled napkin and accompanied by a cup of water to cleanse the palate between sips. Have you tasted the Roasting Plant’s fresh brew yet? Is it really ultimate? (Watch a video of the process here.)
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this actually sounds motherfucking awesome.
i am in total agreement with baby hitler.
I hesitate to say "ultimate" (I mean, that's reserved for ninjas, right?) but they do make a damn good cup of coffee.
I'm in no position to disagree with babyhitler, therefore, ditto.
Something about is just creepy to me. For the same reason I can't seem to enjoy anything I've ever gotten at Bamn on St Marks (and I like 7-11 style food normally).
Abraço in the East Village does the fresh, individual brewing thing as well, but with a friendly, warm, hangout vibe. http://nymag.com/restaurants/reviews/underground/41269/
This place is right around the corner from my apartment -- so, yeah, I've been there.
The coffee is indeed pretty damn good -- and the baked items are yummy too.
You can't tell from this photo, but there are a few chairs to sit in on the left side -- it's all very sleek and high-tech in a relatively compact space.
That's a neat gimmick. I'd check that out.
well bamn is made by humans and just inserted into those compartments. This is fully made by robots.
Better to have robots making my coffee instead of fighting Linda Hamilton or telling me to get in their car if I want to live.
Went today. I don't care how it's made. Great coffee.
Interesting idea. I hope it catches on and kills Starbucks. I'd go but I hate coffee.
In that case, I'll be the first to say that this is so obnoxious just thinking about it is making my brain bleed.