This machine can taste the quality in your cup of espresso, and can identify coffee types nearly as accurately as a panel of trained human espresso tasters. How does it work?


The machine analyzes the gas espresso gives off when heated, translating combinations of ions into subjective descriptions like "roasted, flowery, woody, toffee and acidity." Called an "electronic taster," it was created by chemical engineers at Nestle in Switzerland, and will be used as a quality control device in the coffee industry. And perhaps as an evaluation tool for a few coffee snobs (for the record, the machine only tastes ristretto pulls).

Analytical Chemistry published an article this week about the amazing machine, including a precise scientific evaluation of "coffee headspace." According to a release about the research:



Add the researchers themselves:


Well, at least the machine won't create Skynet when it becomes sentient. Instead it will probably head here.


When Machine Tastes Coffee [Analytical Chemistry]