The ‘Selfieccino’ Is Here to Ruin Coffee Forever

Here’s what you can show the 1990 version of you, who was certain we’d have flying cars by now: A new drink being sold by a tea room on London’s busiest shopping street. Yes, the so-called Tea Terrace sells Earl Grey in “fine bone china” that you can sip while posing inside a life-sized replica of Cinderella’s carriage. But what finally got the café on Instagrammers’ radar is much worse. The “Selfieccino,” unfortunately, is exactly what it sounds like — a milk-based espresso drink that, for $7.50, imprints the customer’s face directly on top of the foam.

It takes about four minutes on a special machine known as the “Cino.” Customers order the drink, and message a head shot to the café’s app. The barista uploads that pic to the Cino, which works some magic using flavorless food coloring, and your image appears in the froth. You then sit back and wait for the Instagram likes to roll in while drinking your self-portrait.

Owner Ehab Salem Shouly is clearly proud of what he’s done, telling Reuters that in today’s restaurant world, Instagrammability now beats “great food and great service” hands down. The drink debuted on Saturday, but they’d sold over 400 by midday yesterday. Shouly is already preparing to trademark “Selfieccino,” install Cinos in the Tea Terrace’s two other locations, then take a moment to cackle at people’s egomania.

Below, a quick look at primary sources currently documenting food’s newest low-water mark: