Are champagne vending machines set to be the next big thing in Mumbai?

The only reason needed to pop a bubbly is really the presence of a champagne bottle. And it’s even better if you can get it by punching a button. Making its first appearance in India, the Moet Mini-Matic arrived in the country earlier this month. Stationed at one of Mumbai’s most-loved rooftop bars, at Aer, Four Seasons, the Mini-Matic is a vending machine that serves miniature champagne bottles as and when you desire.
The press of a button brings to you a perfectly chilled mini bubbly, giving the process of using vending machines a chic makeover. The house of Moët & Chandon is tapping into the millennial trait of wanting instant gratification with this introduction. Five years old, it was first launched in the festive season of 2013, when it was placed in Selfridges in London. Over the years, the Mini-Matic has traversed luxury shopping destinations, film festival after-parties, benefit galas, and sporting events across the world.

In Mumbai, the vending machine appears in a gold hue, stocked with 350 bottles of 200 mililitres each. That’s 70 litres of champagne in one compact spot — need any more reason to not press and pick? To avoid build up of the bubbles and subsequent bursting, the elegant machine gets the bottle out using a golden arm that carefully and gradually places the bottle in the pick-up window at the bottom the machine.
They’ve got two flavours on offer — the Impérial and the Rosé Impérial. Along with the bottle you receive a golden sipper glass, which means you don’t have to drink from the bottle directly as the sipper turns it into a flute glass. Next time at Four Seasons, get your dose of champagne by buying a token from the Aer staff and using it at the Mini-Matic.