Several of our beloved Slayer 1.0 clients have wondered what 2.0 changes they can retrofit to their machine. Well, wonder no longer! Below is a list of all 2.0 retrofittable parts. (If you missed the news about our new Slayer 2.0, jump to that article here.) Not all 1.0 Slayers need all upgrades, so read on to see what best fits your Slayer’s needs. Things to consider include the age of your machine, upgrades already installed, any issues encountered, and the amount of time since your last preventative maintenance repair. We recommend doing preventative maintenance every four to six months, so if your Slayer is due for a PM it may be advantageous to do so with the retrofittable parts listed below.

As with all espresso machine repairs, please be sure to read the Owner’s Manual first. If you own a Slayer and need a copy of the Owners Manual or the Slayer Preventative Maintenance  Manual, please contact us. Important safety information is listed at the beginning of the manual. There are also informative videos in the Preventative Maintenance and Troubleshooting sections to help with repairs and maintenance. Please be sure to watch the important video titled, “Changing the Valve Inserts & O-Rings Within the Group” as well as the link listed on that video’s page to “Bent Needles on the Brew Gauges.” The videos require a password, which is listed in the manual under the Preventative Maintenance section. If you have further questions, get in touch through our contact page.

Read the rest of this entry »

We were inspired by one of our employees, Molly Soeder, to make a modification to the drain pan. This was clearly inspired due to her (former) responsibility of having to clean and maintain the 2 group on our bar. In the past, coffee grounds would collect on the left side of the drain pan due to the slope of the pan. It was her suggestion to simply add a reverse slope to the other side, causing the grounds to flow into the drain. Great idea…and so the Molly Drain Tray was born :)

We’ve also had numerous requests for the ability to lower the overall drain tray assembly. So we’re now offering the option of a lowered drain tray bracket, which is 1/2″ (1.27cm) lower and provides this additional distance between the bottom of the group head and the dray tray.

Click either picture for a larger view

Thanks for the suggestions everyone – keep it up, we’re listening!

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

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

Here are a few shots of Slayer’s new studio that I thought you might find interesting.  Slayer has officially moved to its new digs in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood.

Energy levels are high, as we build out the space, receive production components, meet with customers & vendors and argue with the landlord.

An expanded  loading dock is also being added at our request that apparently must conform to the building code/design intent of this historically registered building, circa 1905.   So it seems this will be a huge wooden “stable door”, and will take several more weeks to finish and install.  Can hardly wait.

Right now, work is being completed in days that would ordinarily take weeks.  Plumbing, drainage, work stations, desks, lighting, and handling systems.  We are also adding a pseudo lab/cafe where we will keep Slayers running at all times for customer use and testing.

The area for this was not plumbed or powered when we moved in, so Ron our resident electrician and power panel assembler is working to get these things in place, channeling through brick, finding long lost power connections, often in the catacomb-like areas that lie below the main floor of this 104 year old building.

Twenty-two foot high ceilings, mean it will be easy to store components on lofty racks.  While a bank of regularly spaced fifteen foot windows give this work environment the feel of a cathedral consecrated to espresso, hailing from gothic times.

It is perhaps this cavernous quality and the way the building pulls in light from outside and casts shadows against rough-hewn columns, like ancient trees, that lend these snapshots an odd feeling of languor and quietude.

Eric Perkunder in Seattle

Day 2 at the SCAA was a busy one for Slayer. (Click here to see what the official WBC blogger has to say about this.) Prior to the show we invited roasters to bring their own coffee to Atlanta to test out the new machine.  More roasters took us up on this offer than we thought actually would.  This was great.  We were also overwhelmed with the response from the barista community which took to the new machine with ease.  Some people played for hours with the enhanced functionality of Slayer, experimenting and testing new ideas. 

Read the rest of this entry »

As I write this post, I am in a happy state of extreme caffenation!

Slayer’s debut and hearty reception at SCAA has taken us completely by surprise.  And I must say happily so.

Day one revealed what our Slayer team has suspected for a while.  Our industry has been waiting and watching quite carefully for the unleashing of new pressure control functionality for practical use in real life cafe situations.  Waiting for functionality like this in a machine configured for artisanal brewing in a barista-style machine.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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 . . .

Read the rest of this entry »