Slayer designs and builds professional espresso machines in Seattle; the company was founded in 2007 by Jason Prefontaine, still its CEO today, out of the observation that coffees that shone on the cupping table didn't always translate into great espresso. The brand's signature innovation is flow-rate control via a precision needle valve at each brew group, a technology that enabled flavor profiling during extraction. Since 1 December 2017 Slayer has had a partnership with Gruppo Cimbali, providing lean-manufacturing support and access to engineering expertise: as Prefontaine himself stated publicly, the deal is not a takeover, and management, brand ownership and the Seattle base remain with Slayer.
