The blog for espresso professionals. Our commitment is to everything espresso along with the environment, sustainability and social consciousness.
Check out the latest video. If you recall - on our last road trip we were investment casting the brew actuators and group covers. Well now we complete the polishing of the stainless parts then travel to Evert Sodergren’s studio to pick up the finished actuators which he’s wrapped in Peruvian Walnut and hand shaped for us.
Check it in low-fi if you have a slower internet connection on YouTube here.
Posted under About Us, Equipment, Marketing/Branding, Video
The Slayer espresso machine sports some remarkable design–in my admittedly biased opinion. One reason for this has been the involvement of artisans and craftsmen from a range of disciplines from lost-wax sculptural metal casting to knife-making to rapid prototyping through SLA models.
In building the Slayer, we augmented our own knowledge and experience by seeking the help of specialists in each of the disciplines we needed to bring our vision of the World’s Greatest Espresso Machine to reality.
Posted under About Us, Culture, Equipment, Pressure Profiling, Professional TechniquesEarly in our machine development we addressed the functional & mechanical aspects of the espresso machine and later we moved onto the aesthetics and ergonomics. It was important to us that the machine enable the barista to expand their coffee making skills and that the coffee they made was excellent, but we also wanted the machine to be a part of the theater of espresso preparation.
Too often machines are simply assembled from Italian ‘off the shelf’ parts and wrapped in a new plastic body…and called NEW. We wanted nothing to do with that and set out designing almost every part from scratch - then found teams of craftsmen and experts in their individual trade to craft these parts for us, thus ensuring a true industrial craft espresso machine.
A ‘craft’ is defined as: An occupation, trade or pursuit requiring manual dexterity or the application of artistic skill. To make or produce with care, skill, or ingenuity.
Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not one to keep my mouth shut, so the last year and a half have been a struggle for me - especially the last several months. 18 months of planning, arguing designing and delays. Stressed, yet excited as hell to finally give birth to the fruits of of our labor.
We feel that some times you need to throw the baby out with the bath water and simply start over…so thats what we’ve done. Over 2 years ago we started with pages of notes on whats wrong with machines today and lists of what our dream machine would do. We interviewed countless baristas & cafe owners and started building our own versions of what we called Frankenbots. We tested our theories with the ultimate end goal of creating a true barista machine. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted under About Us, Equipment, Experiments & Tests, Pressure Profiling, Professional Techniques
I am posting one more item around our recent WBC-protocol temperature stability tests of the Slayer prototype espresso machine. The graph above shows how the two different probe devices we used read and registered temperature and temperature change. The main difference between the Scace meter and the custom K probe device we put together in shop is response time. I think we may have also gotten a small advantage in terms of precision with the K as well, but no one has really sorted through the data to determine this, yet.
Posted under Equipment, Experiments & Tests, Lever Machines
Earlier this month, we switched on the third or fourth refinement (depends on your perspective) of our series of working prototypes. This machine is meant to demonstrate a lot about how our final machine – the Slayer — will work as an espresso brewing device when it becomes available to anyone who wants one later this year.
Up to this point our machine platforms were meant to demonstrate particular concepts, like dry steam production, or shot quality . . . or whatever. With iteration number 4, we decided to run the WBC brew temperature stability test to see how the machine would fare if we ever take it there (or maybe when we take it there). I have posted some of our results in the table below.
Posted under Culture, Equipment, Experiments & Tests, Pressure Profiling
I have attached a picture of the BOSCO espresso machine now in place at the Caffe Vita in Fremont.
This machine is a classic lever machine. The use of a spring instead of a pump to provide brew pressure is the main difference between lever machines and conventional, traditional-style espresso machines. The BOSCO lever has no pump and motor–so brewing is quiet.
Posted under Cafe Reviews, Coffee Retailing, Culture, Equipment, Lever Machines, Pressure Profiling, Professional Techniques
The announcement at Starbucks’ annual shareholders meeting that the company is taking over the Ballard-based Coffee Equipment Company, popularly known as Clover, is a big deal for our our industry. From Starbucks perspective it is a brilliant, but logical move. But does it undermine the efforts of the independent coffee roaster/retailer?
Posted under Coffee Retailing, Culture, Equipment, Experiments & Tests
The Season is here, and I hope everyone is enjoying this time of jolly abandon as much as we are–finding an uplifting tonic (figuratively, if not literally) to fend off the doldrums of these long, dark days of the winter solstice. I wish this, indeed, but maybe not as much as all that if you must drive, do calculus, or study for the GRE’s.
But if you are in fair Seattle this holiday, Slayer hopes you seize the opportunity to enjoy the heffeweisens, stout ales, and hearty brews of all descriptions that are being poured by the flagon-full at the numerous breweries and public houses around town. You never know for sure what the future will bring your way, so make sure you enjoy these boisterous beverages and the merry companionship of your groupies, hearties, and special someones in a way that warms your soul and brings a smiling to your heart.
This season has been so merry for our tribe that I nearly forgot to post this one last note–before we bid 2007 farewell and welcome in a new and hopeful year. Forgive me for keeping this missive un-customarily brief. However, I know you will understand what a pull the winter festivities have on our time and attention–and what a toll these activities can wreak on clear writing and logical narrative. However, if you are one of the ones reading this (which is to say, you are) you are welcome to join our table no matter where, so we may hoist a glass of good cheer to you and yours. So to begin. . .
Posted under About Us, Culture, Equipment, Experiments & Tests, Lever Machines, Pressure Profiling
A tour of Seattle cafes reveals that some prominent wholesale roasters are both coffee suppliers and cafe operators. This is especially true in the emerging Third Wave segment. Notably, Stumptown, Caffe Vita, and Zoka roast coffee as well as operate their own cafes.
The dual role of these companies raises a question: Should someone who plans to open a cafe view the cafe operations of a potential coffee supplier as a competitive threat?
The answer to this question might seem obvious. Afterall, a roaster has a huge advantage in terms of their coffee price. The highest quality green coffee can be had easily for $3-4 per pound even in small quantities. And with the economies of scale that go with roasting commercially, each additional pound of coffee that is roasted diminishes unit costs. Fixed overhead costs remain constant and at higher volumes, green coffee generally gets cheaper the more you buy. Meanwhile buying higher quality pre-roasted coffee can cost $10-14 per pound. This seems like a wide spread. However, there is more to this than meets the eye.
Posted under Cafe Reviews, Coffee Retailing, Equipment, Marketing/Branding, Professional Techniques