In the beginning ... a giant, abandoned looking
former bathhouse on
4th Avenue in Brooklyn, NY.
Passed it by for about a year, made offer, was accepted ...
cobbled together down payment. Closed on purchase December 1994.
After a year or so triaging the internals,
opened as a coffee shop (and sometimes theater)
using a pretty good local roaster for coffee in our Bunn brewer.
Business boomed as we took deep dive into monster La Marzocco triple headed monster
using -Philly's own La Colombe -then Intelligentsia.
Then a hurricane where we ditched the espresso machine beast
---for the ROK ---
for a week saving us counter space and electric whilst making excellent espresso.
In the middle ... it got string theory level complicated.
String theory has a whole lotta dimensions, parameters, if you will.
So does espresso ...
--Farm: Type of plant, elevation, sunshine, humidity, rainfall, seasonal temp ... 6 dimensions
--Roasting: Time, temp, mix of beans, length of roast ... 4 more dimensions.
--Grinding: Time from roast to use, amount, fineness, humidity ... 4 more dimensions.
--Drawing: Tamping, pre-infusion, pressure, time ... 4 more dimensions.
18, eighteen, EIGHTEEN degrees of freedom to get you that espresso for your latte.
Is it any wonder it is a rabbit hole to do at home,
even the 8, eight,
EIGHT dimensions for Grinding and drawing?
In the end ... we launched SWASLU
to get better espresso ---- straight to the consumer, you!
We have drawn thousands of shots on the ROK
and find, as an instrument of fine espresso,
it makes far better espresso
than most cafes or you
can make from home for less than
a $3,000 investment and a hundred hours,
at a minimum, of experimentation and learning.
In the end, if that is your bag, have at it.
If not, we can provide you depth, complexity and variety of flavor ...
and convenience with minimal labor on your part.
We sell DOUBLE SHOT (2oz) jars of frozen espresso, done individually,
with excruciating attention to detail not possible at most any cafe, on the ROK.
>>>>>We sample at markets and fairs, sell sampler packs
and, our focus, have a subscription plan.<<<<<
We have a limited number of member slot discounts
which get you a bankable 12 jars a month.
If you don't use the 12 jars,
that is, don't order all that month,
anything less than 12 is bankable.
Membership is a refundable
$100 per $.10 discount on the price.
(up to $2,500 getting you $2.50 off of the $5.00 price)
Deposit returnable on 90 days notice.
For example, a $100 option with get you 12 jars, bankable, per month, @ $4.90 per jar.
Discount maxes out at $2.50 for a $2,500 refundable option.
That saves you $2.50 for 12 jars per month,
or $30 for the $2,500 returnable option
$30/month X 12 months=$360 =14.4% ROI on the deposit.
We have a limited number of slots
as we are restricting it to
a number of members we can readily handle @ 12 double shot jars permonth.