‍Finnish Coffee Roastery Introduces AI-Crafted Blend

Kaffa, an artisan roastery located in the Finnish capital, introduces a coffee blend created through artificial intelligence, yielding unexpected results.

An artisan roastery located in the Finnish capital has introduced a groundbreaking coffee blend developed by artificial intelligence. This innovative trial aims to leverage technology to alleviate the workload in a sector renowned for its emphasis on manual craftsmanship.

Dubbed the "AI-conic" blend, Kaffa Roastery's latest creation represents a pioneering step in the field. It's fitting that this blend was launched in Finland, a Nordic nation renowned for its coffee consumption, topping the charts globally at 12 kilograms per capita annually, as reported by the International Coffee Organization.

The blend, curated by AI, features a unique combination of four bean varieties, prominently featuring Brazil's velvety Fazenda Pinhal. This blend is the culmination of a collaborative project between Kaffa, Finland's third-largest coffee roastery, and Elev, a local AI consultancy.

Elev, the local AI consultancy involved in the project, explained that they utilized models similar to ChatGPT and Copilot to empower the AI in crafting a blend that would cater ideally to the tastes of coffee enthusiasts. This approach aimed to push the boundaries of conventional flavor combinations in the coffee industry.

Svante Hampf, the managing director and founder of Kaffa Roastery, highlighted that the collaboration sought to explore how AI and its various tools could enhance coffee roasting—an esteemed artisan profession deeply cherished in Finland.

"We provided AI with descriptions of all our coffee types and their flavors, tasking it with creating a new and exciting blend," Hampf explained while presenting "AI-conic" at the Helsinki Coffee Festival, an annual event that brings together roasteries and coffee aficionados.

In addition to curating a unique mixture of beans sourced from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Guatemala, the AI also designed the coffee package label and provided a detailed taste description, describing "AI-conic" as "a well-balanced blend of sweetness and ripe fruit."

Hampf admitted his surprise at the AI's unconventional choice of using four different types of coffee beans for the blend, as opposed to the typical two or three, which typically allows for a distinct taste between flavors from various origins.

However, after conducting the first test roasting and blind testing, Kaffa's coffee experts unanimously agreed that the tech-assisted blend was flawless, requiring no human adjustments.

According to Elev's spokesman, Antti Merilehto, "AI-conic is a tangible example of how AI can introduce new perspectives to seasoned professionals," while offering coffee enthusiasts fresh taste experiences.

Kaffa Roastery hopes that this trial will spark dialogue among coffee professionals about what the future holds for Finland—a nation renowned for its robust coffee culture and passion for technology, boasting a thriving startup ecosystem.

"This trial was the initial step in exploring how AI could assist us in the future," remarked Hampf, highlighting the seamless integration of "the artisan skills of a roastery" with AI-generated data.

"I believe AI has much to offer us in the long run. We are particularly impressed with the coffee taste descriptions it produced," Hampf added.

Source: euronews