A Slayer that doesn’t need plumbing

Every Slayer before the Steam Single needed a water line. This one has a 2.5 L reservoir tucked inside the body and a removable drip tray basin, so it can sit on any counter near a power outlet. If you would rather plumb it in, an optional plumbing kit connects it to a water line instead. It draws up to 10 A at 230 V, so it plugs into a normal wall outlet, ideally on a circuit it doesn’t share with a kettle or an oven.

How a shot works

The brew paddle has three positions. One sends water through a dedicated pre-infusion circuit at a reduced, repeatable flow rate, which soaks the puck gently before full pressure arrives. Another gives full flow, and you can move between the two during the shot to shape the extraction. Pre-infusion can also be set to run automatically for up to 10 seconds.

Once you have pulled a shot you like, the record function saves it and plays it back, so the following shots repeat the same profile without you riding the paddle. Two recipes can be stored. A heads-up dashboard shows the shot parameters in real time and lets you change settings on the fly, and a shot mirror with its own light lets you watch the puck saturate.

Built like Slayer’s café machines

The 0.8 L, 900 W brew tank is PID controlled and separate from the 2.4 L, 2,000 W steam tank, so brew temperature stays put while you steam. The steam wand runs on an electronic valve, which doesn’t need the regular rebuilds a mechanical steam valve does. Inside is a rotary vane pump, and the group is a commercial one that Slayer rates for one million cycles. Slayer designs its Steam machines to use the same spare parts, so service parts are shared with the larger Steam LP and Steam EP.

Steam Single or Espresso Single Group?

Both are one-group Slayers, built for different ways of working. The Steam Single is the easier one to live with: built-in reservoir, saved shots and a pre-infusion circuit that does the slow start for you. The Espresso V3 Single Group uses Slayer’s patented needle valve, which you work by hand on every shot, needs a water line or an external reservoir, and can be built to order with custom panels, finishes and woods. Whichever you choose, flow control only pays off with a consistent grind, so pair it with a capable flat burr grinder such as the Option-O Lagom P80.

Specifications

Dimensions do not include the portafilters, actuators or cup rail.

Slayer’s introduction to the Steam Single