We should have seen this coming, but we didn't. A couple of guys from Georgia Tech are trying to launch this robotic bartending machine called Monsieur, which on the surface seems like a brilliant concept, but it's actually kind of horrifying for anyone who prizes craft cocktails. Basically it works like a Nespresso machine, but for booze, and you have a bunch of cartridges in back filled with god knows what flavorings, as well as different alcohols. There's a touchscreen menu of hundreds of cocktails (as well as cocktail themes, like Tiki, and Cigar Bar), but because all the thing can do is dispense quantities of liquid, you're mostly talking about drinks that have one or two kinds of standard spirit or liqueur in them, and one mixer. And let's not talk about proper shaking or anything like that.

You can, at least, insert your own 750-ml bottles into the machine, so you can have your favorite brands in there. And the settings allow you to tell it if you want your drink light, normal, or BOSS strength. Also, you can order a drink from across the room with your iPhone, but that doesn't help much given that you have to put the ice-filled glass in place by hand.

And though we never want an actual bartender who does this, the machine can track your blood alcohol level and, if necessary, order you an Uber.

For those intimidated by mixing cranberry-vodkas themselves, this machine sounds perfect. But for all those who still would like to shake their own Aviations, get real egg white and bitters in their whiskey sours, and stir their own Manhattans (never shake!), you may want to wait for the advanced model.

Most horrifying to bartending professionals will be the fact that they've got a software package geared toward restaurants and bars, allowing businesses to replace human beings with multiple Monsieurs.

Would it kill them to find a spokesperson who can pronounce the name of the product? Just saying.

[Kickstarter via Laughing Squid]