Robot drinks stir man vs machine debate

Cafe community

More pertinently, the coffee experience is determined not just by good flavor, but by the human element, Weisensee said.

He describes how the cafe is a community of like-minded people who love a good cup of coffee, and that the barista is the lynchpin of this community.

"When we think about the future, we always think about what technology can do. But we often don't ask if these changes are even what we really want in life," Weisensee said.

"Just because a piece of tech is available doesn't mean we actually want to use it. Is the new technology addressing a problem, or is it taking away something people actually appreciate? There's a huge difference."

Yao Lu, founder of The Union Trading Company, one of the top cocktail bars in Shanghai, said that while using robots can make sense from a purely functional standpoint, such use of technology is the antithesis of hospitality.

"This place (Ratio) has got its concept of hospitality wrong. The beauty of a bar is in the human touch. It is about that handshake or hug you get from the bartenders. It's about having them coming round the corner to do shots with you. It is these little touches that create a truly unique drinking experience," he said.

"It's not so much about the precision of the drinks. Yes, humans are more prone to making errors compared to machines, but that is never the point of going to a bar. People go to bars because they want to walk out the place happier than when they came in."

Chen Jingya, a mixologist at the cocktail bar Flask, said it is naive to think of bartenders as nothing more than "cocktail-making machines".

"We don't just stand around and make cocktails. We're in the hospitality business－it's all about connecting with people," he said.

"One of the draws of going to a bar is watching the mixologists in action. It's part of the experience, in addition to interacting with friends, fellow customers and bartenders. You can't possibly chat with a robot."