In this Happy Hour debut, Tim Varney and Michael Bascetta shoot the breeze on coffee automation—from the romance of hand-made shots to the reality of rising costs, labour shortages, and the need for consistency. They map the spectrum: rock-bottom convenience (7-Eleven) at one end, high-touch specialty bars at the other, and today’s “weird hybrid era” in between—puck presses, auto-frothers, machine-grinder handshakes, and scales in the drip tray. Tim traces how roasting already crossed that bridge (IMF + Cropster, repeatable profiles) while bar work still clings to craft. The pair argue automation can reallocate barista skills from tamping to tasting and hospitality, and that the 95% of customers chasing a dependable large latte won’t notice dose-by-gram precision—so long as the cup’s good and quick.Looking ahead, they predict automation will surge through the mid-market first—faster service, fewer bodies on the bar—while the “tippy-top” keeps theatre and human cadence, potentially hiding very high-end automatics behind the pass. Design will matter (think Birdy’s “anti-bar” energy for coffee), as will brand permission: if leaders normalise back-of-house robots with front-of-house hospitality, the stigma fades. They close with a quick detour on Michelin in Australia—questioning whether the country needs an imported rating system when the local hats already set the frame—and sign off promising regular Tuesday episodes with these looser Friday conversations dropping when they can.The PAX Hospitality Podcast is produced by PAX and Craate Creative. Support for this podcast comes from Square and Brunswick Design and Innovation. Our music is produced by Patricia Heath and Mattias Westergren. PAX acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we operate. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging and to all First Nations People.

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