Look Deep into the 3D Printed Coffee & Find Your Soulmate at Match.com's Espresso Yourself Event

Online dating began in a more limited manner, initially delved into by a small but quickly growing group of tech-savvy singles who wanted to try something different from hitting the bars or trying to meet people at work or church. The process initially carried a bit of a stigma though due to the uncertainty of the online world—until more recently when it became apparent that nearly everyone interested in dating is now turning to online services such as Match.com. This process is far more accepted and out in the open these days, and highly convenient for those who don’t really get out.

Are you looking for someone smaller, taller, younger, or older? Blonde, brunette, voluptuous, or toned and athletic? You can specify all of this in your online profile at Match, along with including the basics regarding yourself all summed up in a snappy few paragraphs meant to draw like-minded souls to you. But have you ever wondered how your prospective soulmate’s attractive face might look swimming atop a steaming hot cup of delicious coffee? If you find that to be an inviting idea and you happen to be in London on January 19-20, check out the latest singles event idea from Match at Espresso Yourself, a popup coffee shop.

The concept is quite clever: pop in for a java and then choose from either chappuccino or femmericano. You are presented with a menu of eight difference faces set atop coffee, with their stats to be read on the outside of the cup. The next step is to reach out to them via the link on the cup, should you be interested enough to do so. This can also work in the reverse, with your face represented in the coffee and your information printed on the side of a cup. Best of all though—the coffee is free.

“More and more of our members are choosing to go on ‘coffee dates’, and scrolling through potential matches is something people often do while they’re queuing for their morning caffeine fix,” says Match spokesperson Jenny Mitchell. “We’re encouraging singles to have the confidence to be bold and put themselves out there in a way they hadn’t before. At the same time, we wanted to make finding a date as simple as ordering a coffee, so we’ve teamed up with eight of our members to help make it happen.”

From the technical end in working to make this caffeine-rich chemistry happen, Match—no stranger to using technology beyond the desktop to find dates—is using a revolutionary coffee maker from Ripples, a subsidiary of Steam CC, headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. We’ve reported on their coffee art previously, produced by the Ripple Maker which uses both 3D printing and inkjet technology to extrude a message or imagery through a special coffee pod. The WiFi-connected device stands at 8.5″ x 10.5″ and offers the foamy coffee art as an embellishment for coffee lovers. Messages and pictures are created in just a matter of a few seconds as the user places the cup on the machine and chooses either a design or image from the content library or a custom design. As the creators state, it’s ‘the full range of human emotion created in coffee, on coffee.’ Discuss in the Coffee Date forum at 3DPB.com.

If you’re interested in checking out the popup dating coffee scene, visit The Green, Boxpark, Shoreditch, London, E1 6GY from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on January 19th and 20th.