“Coolest espresso machine on the planet” is coming to Toronto
Slayer is coming to Toronto.
No, we’re not talking about the speed metal gods who brought us “Angel of Death,” but a much-hyped and curiously named espresso machine. This is not one of those hammered-copper eagle-headed art pieces from Italy. The $18,000 machine is raising eyebrows because it offers the barista a palette of pressure options to work with, opening the door to all kinds of experimentation with espresso’s tastes and textures.
Fewer than 20 Slayers exist in coffee shops, according to tech site Gizmodo, and we’ll be seeing Toronto’s first and only one at the upcoming Thor Espresso Bar, which is set to open in early September at Bathurst and Niagara. Thor’s Twitter page calls Slayer “the coolest espresso machine on the planet.” A quick googling to determine the veracity of that statement led us to this video of coffee nerds playing around with the machine. Watching it, we think Thor just might be right.
• Thor Espresso Bar
• A Little $18,000 Espresso Machine Called Slayer [Gizmodo]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/coolest-espresso-machine-on-the-planet-is-coming-to-toronto/&title=“Coolest espresso machine on the planet” is coming to Toronto&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Slayer.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_35164" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="Excitement brewing: the Slayer espresso maker (Image: slayer-espresso.de)"][/caption]
Slayer is coming to Toronto.
No, we’re not talking about the speed metal gods who brought us “Angel of Death,” but a much-hyped and curiously named espresso machine. This is not one of those hammered-copper eagle-headed art pieces from Italy. The $18,000 machine is raising eyebrows because it offers the barista a palette of pressure options to work with, opening the door to all kinds of experimentation with espresso’s tastes and textures.
Fewer than 20 Slayers exist in coffee shops, according to tech site Gizmodo, and we’ll be seeing Toronto’s first and only one at the upcoming Thor Espresso Bar, which is set to open in early September at Bathurst and Niagara. Thor’s Twitter page calls Slayer “the coolest espresso machine on the planet.” A quick googling to determine the veracity of that statement led us to this video of coffee nerds playing around with the machine. Watching it, we think Thor just might be right.
• Thor Espresso Bar
• A Little $18,000 Espresso Machine Called Slayer [Gizmodo]){kind=link}
A person who describes a machine as “coolest” has no business making my espresso. The man needs to run a toystore, not a serious coffee shop.
Anybody who knows anything about decent espresso knows that the machine makes up less than 25% of the quality that goes into the resulting cup.
It seems the Thor people agree, check out their Twitter posts.
http://twitter.com/thorespressobar
Agree with the toy store comment. People new to the industry buying $18000 machines to prove something – funny.
Good luck to them, opening almost next door to the new and third location of Dark Horse. The people behind Dark Horse TRULY know what they are doing with coffee.
The “coolest” machines are actually the Mirage and Strada – these completely trump the Slayer, ask anyone who’s actually worked in the industry.
Just to clarify, the 3rd post in the comments, by poster Sam J, is not myself Sam James, of Sam James Coffee Bar.
If this is somebody acting in my name, give it up.
If its purely coincidental, my apologies.
I don’t post commentary on what other shops do.
To each their own, no matter what they choose to do.
There’s plenty of room for more coffee shops in this city.
All the best Thor! We definitely need more coffee shops in the city! As for machines; different machines excel in different aspects. Whether its a Mirage, which is very closely paralleled to technologies of the Faema E61 and La
Marzocco, or a Simonelli Aurellia..
Alex, clearly you are a Marzocco fan!
The Slayer is a relatively new machine on the market and, from what I hear, is very comparable to Synesso. Have worked on all of the above machines. Going to be working on a Slayer this weekend. I am excited to see what it can do!
You “industry” fools gotta not take yourself so serious. The shop hasn’t even opened and you are criticizing it. That isn’t knowledge that’s just jealousy.
I’m not an expert on machines, although if I could remember half of what I’ve been told about them, I might be. I don’t have a great short term memory. Time will tell whether the Slayer, with it’s extra parts and no local (proper) tech support will be a good investment. If it turns out to not to be, then lesson learned, I suppose.
The poster who noted that the machine isn’t everything is absolutely right. Everyone in the coffee biz knows, as well, that you can have everyhing you require and that’s not going to make you perfect, simply because of the complexity involved. Every shop goes up and down. Coffee itself is tempramental, changing quickly (humidity is the big changer) and often and baristas have to be on their toes, adjusting the grind and tamp accordingly. And you can’t have a ‘bottle neck’ component (grinder, espresso machine) that is not up to the task, either, or else the coffee will not be right, except maybe by chance.
We post here, a lot of us, because we are coffee geeks. We are excited about new coffee shops and developments in the biz. I crawl all the time. I can’t wait to check out Thor and I wish them good luck, as do most of the other indy coffee shop owners who are classy people. (Yes, I know many of them.)
I also think that Patrick and Tom have a great spot for their cafe.
Haters gon’ hate eh? Ease up, purist ponces. Give this shop a chance to open and show us what they have to offer. Thumbing your noses pre-emptively just looks like insecurity.