Did Movies Predict the Future of Coffee?

We recently looked at how coffee inspired the invention of the webcam. In that article, we highlighted movies that had predicted that invention. Have movies and television series also predicted developments in coffee brewing and drinking?

Science fiction cinema and television both boast a history of using coffee in futuristic settings, predicting several key aspects of how we interact with the beverage today.

Coffee Pods and Automated Custom Brewing

Long before the invention of Keurig and Nespresso pods, science fiction envisioned molecular synthesis or automated cartridge systems where a precise cup of coffee could be called into existence instantly.

Probably the best known example of this is Star Trek’s replicator technology. While Captain Picard, played by the late Patrick Stewart, famously preferred Earl Grey tea, Captain Janeway (Star Trek: Voyager) was entirely driven by her replication of coffee ("There's coffee in that nebula"). The Star Trek franchise accurately predicted custom user interfaces with what Star Trek called Okudagrams. These allowed a user to set with precision temperature, style, and roast at the push of a button, much like modern high-end touch-screen espresso systems.

Robotic and Contactless Baristas

The concept of automation replacing human hospitality workers to increase speed and precision was a staple of mid-century retro-futurism and subsequent science fiction productions.

Media frequently depicted mechanical or automated hands crafting drinks, such as robot waiters serving coffee in classic mid-century diner scenes or fully mechanical arms shaking up orders.

You could say that the definitive blueprint for automated domestic and retail beverage service was showcased in The Jetsons, a futuristic 1960s TV series. The show frequently featured multi-armed robotic assistants, automated kitchen counter arms, and mechanical waiters that would grind, brew, and pour coffee or food options at the push of a button, closely mirroring the physical footprint of today's automated kiosk stations

The future has now certainly arrived! Companies including Artly Robot Coffee and the automated kiosks at airports deploy articulated robotic arms that grind beans, steam milk, and pour latte art with exact precision, just like the autonomous cafe attendants predicted by TV.

Coffee as an Endangered, Synthesized Luxury

Dystopian and cyberpunk films have frequently used coffee to predict the social and environmental toll of a global crisis or collapse, portraying real coffee as an extinct artifact of the past.

In Richard Fleischer's Soylent Green (1973), set in a world ravaged by environmental collapse and resource depletion, real food and coffee cannot be accessed by ordinary people. When characters manage to acquire a small jar of real, non-synthetic coffee, it is treated with immense reverence. Coffee is a lost pleasure from a better era. Similarly, cyberpunk productions like Blade Runner have heavily featured characters relying on quick, low-grade, or synthetic caffeine stimulants in bleak, dying cities.

We are now facing an unpleasant reality. As climate change threatens the "bean belt" where Arabica coffee grows, food tech companies such as Atomo Coffee are engineering "molecular coffee" without coffee beans, utilizing upcycled farm ingredients to replicate the beverage—precisely mirroring the synthetic alternatives predicted by science fiction.

The Smart Appliance

Sci-fi predicted that our brewing appliances would eventually become networked, smart, and imbued with personalities.

For instance, in a humorous moment from Star Trek: Voyager, Janeway commands the computer to brew her a black coffee, only for the machine to reply, "Make it yourself," because its personality algorithms had been altered.

While our machines don't explicitly talk back yet, modern smart coffee makers are fully integrated into IoT networks, allowing users to troubleshoot errors via apps, receive diagnostics, and command brews remotely through AI smart home assistants.

What's Next?

It's always worth thinking about the innovations presented in science fiction productions. It is clear that much of the technology envisioned by the writers of science fiction does eventually become a reality. What creative minds can imagine, scientists will find a way to achieve.