I'm on tour this week, and on my way through Calgary I popped in to Fratello's to check out their Slayer. I'm a relative newbie, but I've heard/read about the Slayer and thought I'd check it out for myself.

First of all, I didn't realize that Fratello is a roasting company, and not a cafe. Although they have a full espresso bar, they don't sell drinks there. The bar is there for barista training and demonstrations, I guess. When I got there, I asked a lady if I could have a Latte. She apologized and said there wasn't anyone there who could make me one, and that this wasn't really a cafe. I said that was okay, and asked if they had any pitchers she could recommend for pouring Latte art, which she did. While she rang in my purchase, I told her I was on tour and that I'd just driven 500km, and that I was hoping I could try some shots from the Slayer I'd read so much about. That changed everything.

A few minutes later, I was standing behind the bar with the guy who developed the whole thing. (Dan?) Even though I arrived right at closing time, he spent about half an hour with me explaining the various features of the machine. He also pulled 4-5 shots for me, so I could taste what he meant.

The shots were unbelievable. (Especially to a newbie who's been struggling with stale beans, a Gaggia Baby, and a Virtuoso for six months). They went down like thick liquid silk, and I tasted peach and blueberry in spades. The shots were so smooth and so balanced. None of the bitter or sour flavors I've become accustomed to.

Although I didn't get to pull any shots, personally, he did let me play around with the paddle group, and opened the machine up, so I could see inside.

I thanked him for his time, and for the shots (which, he insisted, were free), took my new pitcher and headed back out on the road. I spent the next two hours savoring the aftertaste as I drove through the Rocky Mountains at sunset.

I realize I'm a newbie, and not particularly knowledgeable about all the intricacies of such a machine, but if anyone has any questions about my experience with the machine, I'll try to answer them as best I can.

(Hmm, my only regret is that I forgot to ask when they're making a home version)

NICE! Sounds like an adventure. What a piece of work!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15192594@N08/

Too bad you didn't get to pull 1 shot. That would have been sweeet!

brokemusician77 wrote:(Hmm, my only regret is that I forgot to ask when they're making a home version)

Bet: Considering that pricing (from what I have heard/read) is something like $14,000 for a 2-group Slayer and $18,000 for a 3-group, I imagine you'll be looking at ~$10,000 for the single-group Slayer, if/when it ever surfaces. I'm sure there'll be a few takers in the home market, but I'll be impressed if they make a competitive entry into the ultra-high-end single-group market, in the face of the GS3, Synesso, and Speedster. Here's hoping I lose this bet, though...

shadowfax wrote:Bet: Considering that pricing [...] I imagine you'll be looking at ~$10,000 for the single-group Slayer, if/when it ever surfaces.

Ha ha. Yeah. I don't know as there'd really be any advantage to having a single-group Slayer, though would there? From my understanding, the really big innovation is the ability to PID each individual group, and to set the brew and preinfusion pressures differently for each group. If that's the case, then there's no real advantage in having a Slayer over a GS3. Is that right, or is there another, more significant innovation I'm missing?

brokemusician77 wrote:Is that right, or is there another, more significant innovation I'm missing?

So, you're saying it would NOT be useful to be able to set the preinfusion pressure on a single group?

well, the slayer offers the declining brew pressure that is quite potentially useful even on a single group. I am not really sure what other benefits you'd get from the Slayer on a single group. Of course, I haven't used one. For what it's worth, the GS3 doesn't seem to use line-pressure preinfusion, but rather has a setting where you can pump water onto the puck and let it set for a certain time. This is quite different from line pressure, though it seems like a perfectly "valid" form of preinfusion. Anyway, Jon--the Synesso lets you easily set preinfusion pressure with a line pressure regulator ($30), so I agree that feature would probably be a moot point on the imaginary 1-group-Slayer.

JonR10 wrote:So, you're saying it would NOT be useful to be able to set the preinfusion pressure on a single group?

No. I'm not making any claims about it at all. I was just asking. (Like I say, I'm still very much a newbie.). I was wondering if there'd be any advantage to having a single-group Slayer over the others.

One feature he mentioned was the preheating tank. Seems there's a tank before the boilers that heats the water before it gets to the boilers, for added temp. stability. So, cold water from the line never enters the boiler. Is this feature unique to the Slayer? (I could sure use that on my Gaggia. )

I was also surprised to learn that the paddle doesn't slide along a continuum, like a lever machine. It's basically just a 3-position switch. Kind of like the new Speedster. Maybe all paddle groups are like this.

The coffee shop in my hometown gets their beans from Fratello. When I teased the owner about getting a Slayer, she rolled her eyes. She said it's hard enough to train employees on her machine (2-group Rancilio Epoca). Having played with the Slayer a little bit, I think it would be very easy to train someone to use it. Of course you'd need a lead barista who could adjust the grind, dose, temp., preinfusion, etc. But a Slayer would be a surprisingly easy machine to learn on. With all of the innovations it makes it quite forgiving. Dan (Dan?) confirmed this when I asked him about it.

shadowfax wrote:Anyway, Jon--the Synesso lets you easily set preinfusion pressure with a line pressure regulator ($30), so I agree that feature would probably be a moot point on the imaginary 1-group-Slayer.

My understanding is that the Slayer works a bit differently than the Synesso. On the Synesso, you could set preinfusion pressure within the limit of line pressure (presumably close to 4 bar or 60 psi).

On the Slayer (from what I've read), you could set it at 5 bar or even 6 bar and run the shot profile to include both ramping up and then declining time. As an example, one could start the pull with preinfusion at 5 bar, ramp up to 9 bar for a few seconds, and then ramp back down to 5 bar for 10 seconds to finish the pull.

That's my understanding of the main difference between the Slayer and the Synesso, and from some people's accounts this can make a very big difference in the shot taste and body. I'd love to experiment and taste shots from one for myself, but until I can all I have to go on is what I've read.

JonR10 wrote: That's my understanding of the main difference between the Slayer and the Synesso, and from some people's accounts this can make a very big difference in the shot taste and body.

There needs to be some sort of differentiation of the newer systems. "Pre-infusion" just barely starts to identify what's happening in some of the newer machines. The lexicon simply doesn't presently support the technology yet.
So, there is line pressure, variable line pressure, low pump pressure, and high pump pressure, variable pump pressure, and, er... what else?
If I understand all this correctly:
The GS3 (and others) allows you to open up the valve and allow line pressure in, and at some point engage the pump at high pressure.
The Synesso allows you to open up to line pressure, and then engage a high pump pressure. It allows you to pre-set the line pressure anywhere from no pressure to what exists on the line?
The Slayer Allows you to set a line pressure up to what the city provides, a low pump pressure, and a high pump pressure, on a three-way switch?
The new Strada allows line pressure, and a variable pump pressure from line to nine?

Anyone have more accurate information as to how all of these work, or did I get it right? Do we need to coin some high-tech verbiage to identify one system from another?

Oh, and do we need to differentiate a pressure by-pass system from a valve system from an electronically controlled motor system?