Roasting Plant Coffee Brings Javabot Coffee Shop to London | Eater London

"This transatlantic roaster and café operator has opened its first London site at 4 Borough High Street (between London Bridge and Borough Market) and is currently serving coffee that one drinker called “gimmicky as hell ... but actually pretty delicious.” The cashless, reportedly 500-seat venue centers on a proprietary “Javabot” system that shoots beans through plastic tubes—first unroasted to a roaster, then into storage tubes and finally into super‑automatic machines—so a traditional barista only serves the finished drink. The space leans into a craft, brewery-like aesthetic, promising speed of service, spectacle and extensive customisation, including letting customers pick blends from a list of roasted single‑origin beans. That blending feature, and the brand’s claim to rest beans “for no longer than 48 hours,” have drawn technical skepticism (variable solubility and extraction rates can make custom blends imbalanced, and very fresh roasting can taste metallic), while the company’s franchise model—expanded into cities such as Detroit, Minneapolis, Denver and San Francisco—has faced legal controversies, including a $9.5m lawsuit from a Detroit franchisee and earlier disputes over business loans. How commuters and local workers respond to this halfway-house between speciality and convenience remains to be seen." - James Hansen