Espresso Shots on the Slayer Machine
Around a month ago, we were experimenting with the new Slayer espresso machine in our studio. The video shows our off the cuff reactions to what we were tasting.
Let me start with some history. I’ve been in the coffee business for 18 years importing, selling & servicing Italian espresso machines, and roasting coffee for 11 years (with my two brothers at Fratello Coffee Roasters in Calgary). Eric started with Starbucks in the early 90’s, moved to ESI, then started Treuh Italia (now called Synesso) with Dan in 2003. Dan started with ESI in the 90’s as well. Eric & Dan began working with us in 2006.
A year and a half ago, we set out with the ambition to build the worlds best espresso machine – but not for the simple sake of building another ‘machine’. Quite frankly, we were unsatisfied with the quality of the espresso we were extracting and believed that we could get more out of the coffee.
We experimented with PID & various pre-heat options to ensure accurate and predictable brew temperatures regardless of how busy your cafe was. – tasting the difference these old machines had on the coffee, then had the We experimented with old lever machinesspring tension measured to determine the pressure profile over the course of the shot. Generally, these shots had a smoother taste than the same coffee pulled on a machine @ 9bars. So we invented a way to vary the pressure of the brew water during the course of the cycle…believing that every espresso has its own unique characteristics and that if we can put a simple system in the hands of skilled roasters and baristas – that they will find the hidden flavors in the espresso.
This video shows our reactions as we play with a competition espresso we developed for Joel to use at the Canadian National Barista Competition. The coffee was designed to be used on a Simonelli Aurelia, 9 bars & 201F. It was a blend of Sumatra Tabu Jamu, Ethiopian Kembata & Brazil Sete Cachoeiras. We wanted a chocolate body through the middle with a nutty/syrupy mouth feel and a hint of blueberry from the Ethiopian. We wanted a forgiving coffee for the Aurelia, knowing that we would be dealing with temperature fluctiations of +/- 2 or 3 degrees. On the day of the finals, it took us 70 minutes of pulling shots to try and dial in the coffee…and the berry notes were gone. We had to use less coffee, slightly finer grind and were pulling a slightly blonded shot to get anything resembling what we were looking for. The pucks were soupy and the body was thin. When we tried this coffee on the Slayer, the body was thick & syrupy chocolate with peacan and in a capp you could smell the blueberry through the milk. It was everything we were looking for and it took us 3 shots to dial it in: Pre-infuse @ 3 bar till the water saturates the coffee – hit the coffee with 9 bars then let it decline to 5 over the shot all at 203F.
Anyway – check out the vid and remember: Its All About the Coffee !
Cheers
Posted under Equipment, Experiments & Tests, Pressure Profiling, Video
Hi there,
I am really interested in what you guys are doing and would love to talk to you in more detail about it. I just have a few questions I’d like to ask. Other than this post, I am having a hard time finding any type of contact info. What is the best way to get in touch with you?
Thanks!
I am very impressed, I too would like to hear from you as well. I also would like to see more.
Brilliant!
Thanks guys,
We’ll be in touch with you via email. We’ll be posting more details and info shortly.
Cheers
Jason
Nice- when will a production machine be ready? Any images of the whole machine? I design coffee shops- it’ll be great to learn more. Pressure profiling sounds interesting…
Hello.
Is there a list to get on in order to purchase the machine once it is for sale?
Are these photos of the new Slayer? (…edited by Jason…tisk tisk tisk…who is posting unauthorized pictures !!)
Did someone post something they shouldn’t have? Looks great either way!!!
I didn’t post them, just found them via flickr… good work on the looks of the machine so far. Btw, maybe this is a sign (i.e. seeing some pics on flickr) that you guys need to post another update on here ;-) Your video whet a lot of appetites, lets see some more details!!
Yes – I apologize for the lack of updates recently. December (with a 2 week Christmas break) and January (with an origin trip to Guatemala & Honduras) really chewed into my time to update pics & the blog.
I’m off to Seattle in an hour and we’ll post some updates early next week.
Cheers – and THANK YOU everyone for your interest in our/your machine !!
Jason
hi guys, interested in the machine also. we are in australia. can you keep me updated.
justin
Hey guys, was wondering how much control you have on the speed at which the pressure rises or falls while you are “profiling”. I don’t usually let pressure drop that fast to that low. because at what you gauge was reading in the video, I don’t think (on my profiler) coffee would be coming out anymore, Maybe 90-95 psi would be the lowest at which it would still extract.
Hallo Jason,
could you please send me an email address from you, where we can discuss some business idears.
Kind regards
Ralf
Really interested in getting one to Australia, once they are available. If you have prices or any further info available would love to get hold of it.
Also interested in getting a slayer to sydney, Australia!
Was down at Fratello yesterday while Jason was working on the new machine. It is quite nice, he pulled me quite a few shots and I was feeling as flushed as the first day I was messing with my Silvia! The final edition of the machine is going to be spectacular. The design is just beautiful and you can tell that the guys really put alot of thought into it. I have to say everytime I’ve gone to Fratello they have been incredibly accomodating in discussing coffee and sharing their expertise (Joel and Jason being the guys I’ve talked most with). Looking forward to more visits and hopefully seeing many Slayers out in shops!
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