The artisans versus the cyborgs is what this article is about – Joy in the task: Even the finest restaurants are serving coffee made with capsules. Have we completely lost faith in the human touch?

Basically, a taste test of a very high end automatic espresso machine (Nespresso), versus hand pulled espresso, versus c–p stuff from some place down the street. Obviously, the last wasn’t a serious contender.

I tend to fall on the same side as the author. The Nespresso machine may have won the taste test, but the sameness was noted.

Several years ago, I remember the president of Starbucks convening a bunch of baristas because he felt that the coffee chain had lost something in the systemization and automation of the process: the individual touch and character of a quality barista.

Also, I worked in an office that had a Keurig and frankly, it made terrible, terrible coffee. Maybe it just wasn’t a good enough machine, but I just couldn’t pick out any particularly redeeming qualities. After all, it wasn’t so much easier than just making some coffee the normal way.

Finally, finding good coffee, like finding a good anything, should be a quest. Choosing to walk up to Peregrine Espresso, rather than settling for the Starbucks stand in the grocery store next door. Comparing Peregrine’s coffee with Pound the Hill (note: Peregrine has retaken the title in that fight). Sometimes taking the trip to Sova in the Atlas District or to Chinatown Coffee to explore what distinctions other coffeehouses can offer.

It’s not more about the journey than it is about the destination because, after all, if the destination is c–p coffee, than the whole experience will have kind of sucked. But the journey matters, doesn’t it?