Unbelievable…SCAA is THIS WEEKEND !!!

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.

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Click video to play

Happy to report that Slayer arrived in Melbourne. Hearing some good things here about the coffee extractions happening at St. ALi’s.  However, I was delighted to receive an actual video from Matt John, a recap of the arrival, unpacking, installing, first use and party that followed Slayer’s debut.  If you happen to be in the neighborhood of St ALi be sure to check it out and let me know what you think.

By the way, this machine is serial number 1.  Much fought over, I finally managed to wrest this notable machine away from other hands, get it into a box, and shipped off to Salvatore who has been waiting since before we even debuted Slayer in Atlanta.

I also want to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Sal for “getting” the Slayer concept long before most people did, and putting real cash money out there, thereby helping us make the whole thing possible.  I can’t say enough about how important you early adopters are.  So thanks for that Mr Salvatore!

Best regards,

Eric Perkunder in Seattle

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One nice thing about building Slayers in Seattle USA is that there is no shortage of great coffee roasters willing to try out a new thing.  In fact, not surprisingly it’s primarily the most artisanal roasters of extremeness that have taken notice.

Proximity like this also means that there is no shortage of great coffee to dial in for flavor profiling.  We have tried quite a few of the local greats.  Zoka’s Paladino, Vita dal Sol, Stumptown Hairbender, and Vivace Vita & Dolce.

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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.

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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.

Cheers

Jason

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. 

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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.

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When I go to a show and see a new machine, I would love to actually play on it – specifically with MY coffee. I know what its supposed to taste like and it would be great to see how my coffee tastes on their machine. 

So, at the SCAA, we’re going to have two machines up & running. One will be manned by John & Joel who’ll be pulling shots for everyone who just needs a coffee.

The second machine is being set up for roasters & baristas to play with. We’ll have a 2gp Slayer plus two grinders: Anfim Super Caimano & Mazzer Kony (both with digital timer mods). Here’s your invitation to play! Bring a bag of your espresso to SCAA (probably 2lbs or more).

Start by choosing your preferred grinder (flat or conical burr set), set grind, dose & brew temp using the machine at a straight 9 bar shot – establishing a baseline. Next adjust the grind finer (generally I go 2 to 3 settings finer) and play with low pressure preinfusion and various brew geometries on the Slayer.

Who knows, you may experience your coffee for the first time ;-)

Cheers

Jason

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.

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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 . . .

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