Slayer’s Throw-downs & Our Great Coffee Community!

Sarah Dooley

Aug 08, 2017

It’s the people, people! The welcoming, open arms, hard working community that continues to host and show up…these people push our industry to new audiences in a perfect and infectious way.

A Latte Art Throw-down may seem silly when you toss out the phrase and in a lot of ways it actually is.  Picture a room full of colleagues, switching gears from coffee service professionals to professional showoffs.  Depending on the platform, a barista brings a smile, some unruly nerves her favorite pitcher and vessel to pour latte art, head to head.  Two baristas approach the machine, the crowd is chanting, they pour, one moves on and one is done.

Sometimes we battle a team mate from our own shop or company.  Other times he’s up against a buddy from the neighboring cafe or roastery. It’s a tight knit, close proximity community. Regardless of where we are from, seasoned competitors meet first time competitors at the judges table. The top three pours take home exceptional sponsored prizes and the #Slayer500 cash bump goes to the winner at the recent SlayerTNT: ZOKA.

1st place  Alex Opinsky

2nd place John Holmquist

3rd place Will Eder  

Along with local bragging rights, the winners circle celebrates the end of their night with cold hard cash game changing coffee tools.  Our tried and true prize sponsors bring the added value of top notch  brewing gear.

Baratza, truly focused on an exceptional and approachable product wherever you are in your coffee grinders.  Special features that we love are the hardened steel burrs, easy adjustability between grind settings, logical user interface with a bonus, parts and repairs are easy to source and do. A Virtuoso Grinder is awarded to the first place competitor.

Acaia stepped up the scale game 200% by creating a ratio over time, accurate scale.  The technology has versions that support bluetooth connectivity and a back end member platform so you can brag about your steady handed recipes. Not to mention, design and packaging rivaling the likes of Apple if you’re into pretty things. A special edition Acaia Pearl is awarded to the second place competitor.

The Slayer Tamper is a unique and one of a kind prize handcrafted here in Seattle by our woodworking partner, Gauge Design Group.  Nothing beats the feel of these tampers as the soul of wood meets the heavy metal base. It’s craftsmanship at its finest! This beaut is awarded to the third place competitor.

Zoka Coffee shared their space, brilliant team and heart with us, bringing the event to Steve Winwood’s “higher love” level.  We felt it and the NW coffee community thanks you too!

These genuine and easy going competitions wet our lips for the taste of competition.  The Slayer Throwdown series is also getting a facelift as we turn it up yet another notch revealing a new Wild Card category similar to what we sampled at our Melbourne, Meet Steam Event, (now polished).  Judges calibration, swag for all, hourly door prizes, trivia, monitor view points, beverage coupons for all. It’s a literal production.

Until next, happy brewing and pouring!

#slayerTNT #meetsteam #makecoffeebetter #handcrafted

p.s. If you made it the bottom of this post, look out San Diego, were coming for you next! Slayer Throwdown- Fall 2017! Schedule and details posted up here very soon.