In January 2021, Seven Miles Coffee Roasters announced a new “coffee telemetry” technology it has begun rolling out across its café network to help baristas move even closer to serving perfect coffee, every time.
This technology marks the next evolution of Seven Miles’ ongoing Perfect Pour program – a program which helps cafés nationwide achieve one of the toughest orders for even the best baristas – consistently exceptional coffee.
The roaster has partnered with the Flow Technologies cloud-based platform to provide live data on every cup so the local café can continuously monitor, and where needed, improve, their service to deliver consistently delicious coffee throughout the day.
WHAT IS COFFEE TELEMETRY?
A small device collects data from an espresso machine throughout the day, and then allows the barista, the café owner, and the Seven Miles support team to monitor what’s happening from another location.
There are a couple of key benefits:
1. AUTOMATIC QUALITY CONTROL
With a system that tracks every shot, baristas can get objective feedback on how they performed across the day, and across teams of baristas.
The insights this system provides takes some of the mental load off the barista.
Not only showing where they can improve, but also how the coffee extraction needs to change to get back to the ideal flavour.
2. FASTER SUPPORT
The ability to identify and observe issues remotely means that the Seven Miles support team can get instant insights into technical issues and help solve them quick smart.
HOW DOES THE PERFECT POUR PROGRAM WORK?
The Perfect Pour is a three-part program:
- The Flow device: A small, discreet internet connected device that provides data from the espresso machine.
- Analytics dashboard: A web-based dashboard that gives baristas objective feedback on their performance across the day and across the week.
- Training & Support: This new data allows the Seven Miles training team to provide focussed coaching and technical support wherever they are.
This system compares every shot to the recipe, scoring it, before sharing that data so that each venue can review how every cup measures up.
Seven Miles says whether it’s low shot to shot consistency due to crooked tamping, or low shot time accuracy due to stock rotation issues, this data is a brand-new way to help baristas serve the best coffee possible.
THE RESULTS SO FAR
When Seven Miles published its Café 2025 report in 2020, the roaster said telemetry had become fairly commonplace with fully automated machines, but there was a gap when it comes to cafés and restaurants.
Over the last year, it has worked on ways for smaller cafés and restaurants to have access to the better insights, control, and technical support that this kind of technology provides.
Seven Miles says the testing in its own Espresso Window has already eye opening. The roaster has seen 20 per cent more consistent results in hitting the ideal ‘recipe’ for coffees served throughout the day since getting these insights.
Thos is with experienced baristas working on some of the most accurate specialty coffee equipment available – so the roaster says the early results are really encouraging.
Another useful insight is the hourly breakdown. Pretty quickly, Seven Miles could see that the recipes were drifting from its targets at certain times of the day.
As conditions changes during busy periods, the system could show its team when they could have adjusted the grind size or the dose to keep things on track.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE PERFECT POUR PROGRAM?
With what Seven Miles has learned so far, it’s keen to get this new version of our Perfect Pour program rolled out to as many of its café partners as possible.
Its goal is to have 200 café partners using this update to the Perfect Pour program by the end of 2021.
Seven Miles says consistently delivering exceptional coffee is the key to growing café businesses. This technology is one more way we can help make that happen.
For more information, visit flowcoffee.com.au