My first coffee shop job was at Kidd Coffee, a small franchise in the middle of nowhere Ohio. We were forty-five minutes away from the nearest city and thirty minutes away from any other coffee shop. We offered four coffees year-round: mild coffee, bold coffee, decaf, and “Highlander Grogg,” a vanilla and hazelnut flavored coffee. We brewed them in big batches on our row of Bunn auto-brewers and let them sit for four hours, or until a customer complained that their coffee was cold, whichever came last. I had no idea where coffee came from or what it even was. Once, a customer asked me if we had any Colombian coffee. I stared back at him blankly and asked, “What is that, a flavor?”

This scene plays in my head whenever I see an auto-brewer, which has become the symbol of bad coffee since the emergence of the third wave coffee movement. Experiences like mine were the general standard for brewed coffee until forward-thinking professionals led us all into the golden era of by-the-cup brewing, an era that may be on the verge of another reformation – back to auto-brewers.

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I did a quick YouTube and Vimeo search and came across the following videos from Australia, Singapore and Canada. I really enjoy seeing people from around the world using and enjoying the coffee they’re making on their Slayer.

Enjoy

Campos Coffee – Australia:

Bean Drinking – Australia:

Cup Specialty Coffee – Australia:

Jimmy Monkey – Singapore:

jimmy monkey cafe & bar from Eileen on Vimeo.

Slayer coffee machine- The Best! from Eileen on Vimeo.

Thor Espresso – Canada:

Here is a video someone made from SCAA 2009, when we launched Slayer:

We just came across the following videos that were shot by Slayer owners in different parts of the world – pretty cool if you ask me – and makes us pretty proud to see the excitement that comes from the hard work going on in Studio 238

Australia:

Germany:

Canada:

I just happened upon a video from Dark Cloud Espresso in Chicago. The cafe looks great and they’re pulling shots by weight, which is great. Check it out here:

Also, Coffee Supreme in Melbourne Australia just finished a custom paint job on their Slayer – SWEET! Gloss Cherry red paint, white GT striping and a killer gold logo. Nice work Justin! Check out all the pics by clicking on the pic

Now, heres something that I LOVE…videos that were shot and published by proud Slayer owners through out the world!!

Check it out

Bean Drinking, Australia

Lots more videos after the jump…

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I read Gizmodo every day and just saw this pop up on my RSS… needless to say I was more than a little shocked.

Check out the story of Slayer in New York at RBC here at Gizmodo: A Little $18,000 Espresso Machine Called Slayer

The coffee scenes in Portland and Seattle differ more than you might think, especially considering that the two cities are less than three hours apart by train or car, and share similar demographics, climates, &  cultural attitudes.  Sam Lewontin touches on what the Seattle coffee scene could learn from Portland and what it might take to catch up.

The opening of Heart Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon has garnered a huge amount of buzz in the Northwest coffee community, and it’s easy to understand why: It’s clear that a great deal of money and attention to detail were lavished on building out the space. It’s a polarizing design, certainly (sparse seating, cool colors, cavernous ceilings, very industrial chic), but there’s no doubt that it’s a work of care and precision. Love it or hate it, it’s hard to deny that it’s audacious and interesting.

Thing is, it’s not particularly out of the ordinary in Portland. Beautiful, well thought-out spaces have been opening left and right in the past two years: Ristretto Roasters’ café on Williams, Barista in the Pearl district, Coffeehouse Five and the Red E in North Portland—to name just a few. There’s almost no part of Portland that’s without an ambitious, forward-thinking café. It’s little wonder that the coffee scene there is widely considered to have eclipsed the scene in Seattle, long considered the birthplace of modern specialty coffee.

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Slayer shirts arrived in a nick of time for 2010.  If you want one, just let me know.

Be sure to include your complete address and $3 for postage.

The shirts are $20 each. Sizes are  M,L, XL and run small.

If you’re in Seattle you can also pick yours up at Studio 238.

Our address is:

Slayer

5628 Airport Way S

Studio 238

Seattle WA 98199

Cheers,

Eric

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Thoughts on business on Slayer on the past and future year.

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This post is rather a rambler.

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So before going further, I want to thank you all for your support this year.  2009 was an epic year for us.  This was the year we completed designing, and finally introduced, and began building the Slayer.  For over two years prior we’d been working toward 2009.

And our work continues.  We continue to fine-tune Slayer.  There are some components that we are improving and some features that we are adding in 2010 to make the machine better yet. These improvements are based on what we’ve learned from the field, from cafe operators using Slayer in the real world.

Many people have experienced both espresso and brewed coffee on Slayer already.  Even more will hopefully get the chance when we introduce a brand new brew mechanism early next year.   Over the past few months my attention has been galvanized on getting this work completed, which has been both exciting and all-consuming!

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Bean Scene Magazine (click here to view)  in Melbourne featured Slayer as the cover story for their November issue.  The article was an over-the-top free association on Slayer and I just loved it.  I especially enjoyed the way Steve captured the essence of Slayer as “an irrational exercise in exuberance” because this joy in creating a new super-functional machine that celebrates the human element illuminates our path even now.

You can read everything in the issue, but one final feature of the article worth noting is the way Slayer the machine is described in the context of the important new ways independent roasters and retailers are considering their business.  They are making money with coffee, raising the bar on quality for their customers, and doing good at origin through innovative thinking and exploration. . . and action.  Even if you are not roasting your own coffee, it is possible to align your cafe with an independent Third Wave roaster who is.

My thanks to Steve Agi, the editor of Bean Scene, coffee fanatic, and beloved “caffiend”.  Your article was terrific!

Eric in Seattle