I’m shocked at how quickly the past year has flown by…SCAA ‘09…the Slayer launch event, where our booth was packed from an hour before the show opened, till one hour after the show closed when they kicked everyone out of the hall.
Ok, so I finally got the online store working…all we have for sale (for now) is the Limited Edition Slayer T’s ;-)
You can pay via Visa, MC or PayPal…which is far more convenient than mailing a check…and whats better than ordering Slayer merchandise while sitting at home in your ginch?
Recently some commentators have lumped Slayer into a category with La Marzocco and Synesso. I don’t really mind this, because the comparison reflects the fact that Slayer defines a new category of equipment: ultra-traditionals. These other machines play in the premium range, but Slayer is perhaps the first purpose-built machine for the Third Wave. It is by design the ultimate traditional barista machine.
Prior to SCAA, I had anticipated that we would be somewhat busy with everyone wanting to actually see & play with this machine that they’ve read about. However there is no way that I could have dreamt that things would be as insane as they were. We arrived at 10:00 each moring to set up and would immedieatly have people coming by and when the show floor opend at noon things went mental until well after 6:00.
To say that I was overwhelmed with the number of people who took me up on the offer to bring their coffee is an understatement. I had such a great time pulling shots with all you guys – and tasted some of the best espressos in my life! I can’t imagine that there will be another espresso ‘perfect storm’ with the SCAA & the WBC & the launching of a cool new barista espresso machine all happening at the same time. This resulted in our 10×20 foot booth being packed with easily 50 people. Several people said that they had to come back 3 or 4 times just to get close enough to the machine to take pictures & pull shots…and this was the first time (since 1993) that I have not walked the SCAA floor, I just didn’t have time.
Thank you everyone, who came to hang out at our booth!! If you didn’t make it to SCAA, check out the video that Chris took with his little camera. It was shot opening day between 12:00 and 2:30.
I’m posting this picture of Dan Urwiler posing behind the proto-Slayer: Slayer’s prototype. The fit and finish of this pre-production machine is far less refined than the production version. The proto-Slayer was almost 100% handmade, and went through numerous iterations before reaching the version shown here. Like most prototypes, proto-Slayer reflects many tweaks and changes made along the way.
When you share your thoughts on this blog, we sit up and take notice. We love hearing your musings, answering your questions, and listening to your wise words of advice.
In fact when I think about it, there is really only one thing that makes us happier. This is your Art. . .
Ever notice how projects that you’ve been working on for a long time can seem to reach their conclusion in a burst? All the elements that go into realizing that vision of the perfect espresso machine come together at last, and you are there . . .