Jason Prefontaine is standing in front of the Slayer, his company’s $22,000 espresso machine. It’s a beautiful beast, finished in a pearly burnt orange and built to brew for the truly obsessive. But he doesn’t think he should make a shot of espresso. He doesn’t know which beans are in the grinder, and Prefontaine only likes to make flawless shots. Realizing he probably shouldn’t send me off without a Slayer shot, he goes into a trancelike state. He brews one shot, which tastes fine but a little thin, with a bitter aftertaste. He tries again, tweaking the settings. Slayer’s the only commercial espresso machine that lets a barista choose exactly how much water hits the beans in a given moment....
↧