So let’s talk about your first real encounter with a fully automated machine and telemetry.
Was there anything particularly interesting about the initial primary data gathered (during calibration, setup and lull before busy period)?

For reference, Teddy was assisting on the first day. On day two, he was the main barista.

On Day 1, Jeremy showed me data via the telemetry - I didn’t expect it to be able to capture so much information, so I was quite surprised. But I didn’t really know how to apply it. 

It wasn’t until Day 2 when I was making more coffees, and the data was more applicable to my time on the bar, did I discover there were more operator/barista issues that I thought. 

Were there issues flagged that you wouldn’t have been able to notice easily without tangible, tracked data?

Yes. As baristas, a lot of actions and movements we make in our processes are natural to us, but we don’t really pay attention to the consistency of these actions.

When the telemetry was tracking inaccuracy in my shots, Jeremy started noticing and pointing out things that I wasn’t doing the same way in every stage of my puck preparation process. For example, sometimes I’d tap the side of the portafilter to level the coffee grounds, sometimes I wouldn’t, sometimes I’d even do it twice. Or when using a distributor, I’d spin the distributor once, sometimes twice - these movements were always in my preparation process, but not always identically. Due to the second nature of these movements to me, I never noticed any discrepancies.

It wasn’t until Jeremy pointed out my inconsistencies, which we corrected to standardise the process. Immediately after correction and more consistent puck preparation, an obvious improvement in my shot consistency and shot quality was tracked via telemetry.

If there was one thing you could tell baristas about the use of automation and technology in workflow - what would it be?

Just try it. WHEN YOU TRY, YOU’LL KNOW.

You may think you’re being very consistent and the result is the same every time - but you’re probably wrong.
Using coffee technology in our workflow really opened my eyes to inconsistencies in my process that seemed minor, but wound up causing a pretty decent impact on resulting volume and taste.

I wasn’t sure about introducing automation into my coffee process either, but after seeing and learning what I did over the 3 days at F1, I’m convinced. I returned to my outlet at IOI and shared my experience with my team and they were initially skeptical too. But when I broke down the information and issues faced at the event, they were quite impressed as well.

Having the information in real-time and on hand was not just helpful and informative, it was actual actionable feedback. Not only were we able to deduce the problem quickly and accurately, but it helped us regroup and set us on a path to better processes and results.

Hi Teddy, Thanks for your time today!
Not so long ago, you’d be considered a more traditional barista, with little use and exposure to coffee technology and telemetry. Back then, what were some of your initial thoughts on fully automated machines and coffee telemetry?

Initially, I found it a bit robotic - why would you still need a barista? Everything is automatic, you don’t need to think about calibration or anything beyond pressing - which is good and bad. 

Without the use of data and technology, how would you normally diagnose and troubleshoot inconsistencies?

Normally there would be a lot of trial and error, a lot of tasting. Trial and error is based on common fixes that we know; if the shot is too fast, change the grind size or change dose etc.  During peak hours, we do a lot of spot calibration. There isn’t a lot of time to taste every shot so we have to diagnose based on timing, weight of output, the look of the shot.

So, you were recently part of a team of baristas at the Singapore Grand Prix 2025, running quite the setup -
Sanremo D8 Pro, Mahlkönig E65W GbS, Cinoart auto tamper. What were your thoughts while running on such a tech-heavy setup?

When I was stationed on the Sanremo with auto calibration - I thought it wouldn’t help that much; but I wound up learning how helpful it could be in fixing errors and habits.

In a high-volume and high-pressure environment like the F1 GP, knowing the amount of coffee you’d be making - what are some of the issues you’d expect to face and how were you planning to diagnose and manage them?

The general idea was to deal with it as it comes. At a busy event, the range of acceptance is generally wider, just like the slam period at a cafe - we’re willing to be more compromising i.e. the shots are still good, but we don’t expect perfection in every single beverage.

Did you find that data gathered could help you pre-empt and adjust to avoid any impact on workflow or customer experience prior?

I guess you could say it really cut down the time it took for us to find issues we needed to correct to keep our coffee running at the best it possibly could be. 

By Day 3, when assisting Jeremy, I really understood and could apply the data better. I could easily narrow down and zoom in on the issues that had to be addressed because they were affecting accuracy and quality. Once I knew what needed to be fixed in the preparation processes, I could standardise these habits and replicate this procedure immediately across the team to keep things running smoothly.

Wow, it sounds like having real-time data to troubleshoot really helped a lot when the team was under pressure.
How else did full automation change your perspective?

I really thought that automatic machines would not be as consistent or as good as traditional machines - but I realised that automation is really catching up.

While I thought including automation in a traditional setup would make us, as baristas, think less because everything is already preprogrammed and self-calibrating, but I found that using this setup actually pushed me to think more critically - we had to understand calibration and extraction and also how and why the machine was making certain adjustments. 

We also had an Eversys Enigma Classic on station, and I was surprised it could be so accurate and consistent in timing and taste. It kept us on track when things got very fast paced. And beyond that, the automation of the Eversys allowed me to adopt mostly a hands-off approach when I was making coffee. While trusting and monitoring the automation, I was able to lend more attention to conversing with the customer and improving on the interpersonal customer experience.