New Custom Build: Stunning Concept for Ninety Plus

Chris

Apr 04, 2014

Slayer’s collaboration with Ninety Plus is no coincidence. Years back, Jason and Steve Holt! (Ninety Plus, VP) spoke for the first time during a casual phone call; two hours later, they knew that they had just ignited a lethal spark.

When Ninety Plus joined us for the 2010 SCAA Event in Anaheim, it became clear that we were on to something. Pulling their Nekisse N2, we all enjoyed such nuance and clarity as we’d never before experienced. And we’ve been collaborating at trade shows around the world ever since.

Eventually, we learned about Ninety Plus’ hushed plans for a new retail concept. Working with them to design a special Slayer was a no-brainer, and the result is stupid-cool.

As with all of our favorites, there’s a story behind this stunner. Denver, CO is home to Ninety Plus’ Sensory Room, a coffee tasting environment and program through which all of their projects are evaluated and documented. At individual tasting tables, participants use a descriptor-focused methodology as part of a structured system to synthesize, discuss, and record data. Forging connections between flavor and culture to enhance each taster’s memory, specific coffee origin elements are incorporated into each sensory session. It’s a cupping platform without precedent, and these guys are killing it.

Central to the Sensory Room are four tasting tables, imagined and built by Denver-based furniture designer Luke Goodhue. Fascinated by coffee’s intricate supply chain and the global adventures of his friends at Ninety Plus, Luke explored safari design, a trend popular with travelers who carried light furniture for comfort on the road. The tables would look, feel, and be beautiful, suitable for furnishing elegant quarters – but also convertible, convenient for travel.

Here, Ninety Plus’ tasting tables furnish our shared booth at Hotelex in Shanghai.

White Corian sits atop a black cherry frame, stabilized by a dovetail cut. Oxblood leather straps, crafted by accomplished leathersmith Jay DeRose, cinch to secure the frames and tops. The (quickly) assembled tables are handsome, practical, and perfect-suited to Ninety Plus’ unique space.

With all this, we had a lot to go on. First, we completed our most extensive powder job to date, coating nearly every exposed metal surface with a serene, matte white.

Black cherry was a natural – and gorgeous – choice for the actuators and handles.

Even the hubs got their share of powder. Now, in sneaks the oxblood leather…

Blue Bottle’s custom leather panels turned out so well that we just had to give it another run. Go on, ogle!

A rare treat, we etched Ninety Plus’ logo in the back panel. And, for a spectacular finish…

…backlighting.

The official unveiling of this custom Slayer will be at the SCAA Event in Seattle, starting tomorrow. There, Ninety Plus will showcase the latest offerings from their Gesha Estates in Panama and farm projects in Ethiopia. The agonizingly exclusive lineup includes:

• Nekisse N2 + Hachira N2, roasted by Maruyama Coffee in Japan
• Nekisse Red N2, roasted by Tailor Made Coffee in Greece
• NEW Maker Series by Ninety Plus Field Director in Ethiopia, Semeon Abay
• Lycello W2 Estate 6 + Perci N2 Estate 30, roasted in Panama by Joseph Brodsky (founder and CEO, Ninety Plus), Kentaro (Maruyama Coffee), Oskar Garberg and Alexander Ruas on the very same roaster that supplied coffee to the workers that built the Panama Canal. (Uh, what?)

If that’s not enough to get you over to booth 9016, we don’t know what is.

So, come see us at the expo and, in the meantime, let your imagination run wild about what we might be able to do with your dream machine.