I've always held the opinion that food and beverage critics are nothing more than an ancient bloodline bent on protecting the family business at all costs. The sayings 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and 'a shit sandwich is good if you like it' say it best.
That being said, Nestle researchers claim to have developed a machine that analyzes the concentrated coffee drink, espresso, and decide if it is of 'good' or 'bad' quality. You can read the highly technical paper for more info but, basically, it analyzes the gas that espresso gives off and categorizes the combinations of ions into 'tastes' such as "roasted, flowery, woody, toffee and acidity."
Robotic Coffee Taster
Nestle Java Assesser
Trend Themes
1. Robotic Coffee Tasting - Robots are being developed to assess the quality of coffee based on taste characteristics and gas analysis, potentially disrupting the traditional role of human coffee tasters.
2. Automated Taste Analysis - Advancements in gas analysis technology allow machines to categorize taste qualities of various food and beverage products, opening up opportunities for automated taste testing in different industries.
3. Data-driven Quality Assurance - Using data analysis to evaluate and categorize the quality of products like coffee can revolutionize the quality assurance process, leading to improved consistency and efficiency.
Industry Implications
1. Food and Beverage - The development of robotic coffee tasters can disrupt the traditional roles of human taste testers, leading to increased efficiency and objectivity in assessing food and beverage quality.
2. Technology - Advancements in gas analysis technology and data-driven quality assurance have the potential to disrupt various industries by revolutionizing quality testing processes across different products.
3. Hospitality - Automated taste analysis can find applications in the hospitality industry, allowing for consistent quality assessment of food and beverage offerings, enhancing customer satisfaction and brand reputation.