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Friendly Neighborhood Robot Barista

7 Aug 2022 by Amby

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price-icon $4 city-icon Zurich country-icon Switzerland location-icon Smyze

I was walking past the Eventhalle in Oerlikon when I heard a curious beeping sound from this big box-looking thing. I walked up to it and was delighted to see it was a coffee stand manned (pun intended) entirely by a single robot barista.

I didn’t even really want coffee but I ordered some just to see what would happen. Needless to say, it was really cute. Also cheaper than the average Zurich coffee.

Robot barista in its natural habitat. Robot barista in its natural habitat.

I ordered the “Bulletproof Ice Coffee” ($4) and the robot went to work adding ice, syrup, sugar and coffee. I enjoyed watching it work; it looked graceful and (somehow?) friendly.

Machine at work. Machine at work.

There are a lot of drink options available, all sorts of coffees, sodas, juices, and “vitamin drinks.” The robot put my order in a little elevator, which moved up with fun sound effects to reveal my drink.

Ta da! Ta da!

It took a little bit of time for it to make the drink, maybe 2 minutes, so longer than just buying a drink to go at a convenience store, but shorter than waiting on a human barista. At $4 it was also slightly cheaper than typical coffee prices at the Zurich cafes (which I would estimate are closer to $5-6).

I drank my coffee on the train. I drank my coffee on the train.

I didn’t love the Bulletproof Ice Coffee because the syrup and sugar made it too sweet for me, and it seems as though the robot can't shake/stir ingredients together. But I could see myself ordering something without sugar in the future and being satisfied.

The robot looks a little lonely from the sidewalk, go visit! The robot looks a little lonely from the sidewalk, go visit!

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