Well, I received my machine today and I must say I love it. When I first opened the box, though, I was a bit worried as the machine and the plastic covering wrap was slightly damp. They must test these machines before shipping and mine didn't get fully drained or something. Anyways, everything still seemed to work fine so I guess it's fine. The only coffee I have at the time is a 3 week old Sumatra from Counter Culture. While Sumatra isn't my favorite origin, I must say this was the best cup of Sumatran coffee that I've had. It had a nice full body with chocolate and spice notes. I already have more coffee on order, I can't wait to try this machine with some fresher coffee.
I also learned a few things about brew temps today that really surprised me. I always hear about is how important it is to have 200F +/- 5F brew temps. This after all, is the SCAA standard. The Trifecta holds the brew water in the tank at 200F and dispenses it into the brew chamber at 200F. However, I did some testing and found that the water quickly cools to 185F shortly after entering the brew chamber. What I realized is the standard of a 200F brew temp is overrated. The following quote is from Kevin Sinnott, coffee expert, who's the guy behind Coffeecon and has written several books on the subject.
"Brewing temperature – the single most overrated attribute of a coffee brewer is its brew temperature. Am I saying it’s unimportant? Absolutely not, but it is in third place. Why is it number 3? I suppose because it’s the easiest to measure. If you want my honest opinion based upon years of observing coffee brewers and measuring the brewing temperature, it is that any brewer that brews between 180 and 212 CAN conceivably brew very good tasting coffee, PROVIDED the contact time is kept under six minutes AND the grounds are well and equally saturated."
I was wondering if the Trifecta brewed at 185F, what did my previous brewer of choice, the Clever coffee dripper brew at? I heated 12oz of water to boiling and let it cool briefly to 200F. I then poured it into the Clever dripper and let it stand for 30 seconds to equalize temperature. The temperature measured at 185F. To simulate the brew process, I replaced the cover on the Clever dripper and measured the temperature again at 4 minutes which would be the normal end of brew for me. At 4 minutes the temperature had dropped to 175F. Either way, the Clever coffee dripper is regarded as one of the best manual coffee devices. Obviously it's brew temp isn't a issue, which proves to me that 200F being necessary for good coffee is not necessarily true. I think the other factors such as ground saturation and agitation to achieve even extraction are far more important factors, which the Trifecta excels at. This is why it is able to make such a nice cup.
Do we get a little badge for joining the club? I'm in as of this afternoon. Love the included beaker! Sediment is minimal, on par with the Aeropress + DISK Fine combo. What I'm tasting so far is quite good.
Posted Sun May 27, 2012, 8:10am Subject: Re: Bunn Trifecta MB Owner's Thread
Thanks! New machine + new (to me) coffee = fun with dialing in. Have you and others found you tend to stick to one particular setting or move around? I ask because this Guatemala I'm working with seems to like B-45, but another bean is better at C-50 (same grind, same coffee-to-water ratio).
Thanks! New machine + new (to me) coffee = fun with dialing in. Have you and others found you tend to stick to one particular setting or move around? I ask because this Guatemala I'm working with seems to like B-45, but another bean is better at C-50 (same grind, same coffee-to-water ratio).
Yeah, this has definitely been my experience as well. I still haven't gotten the hang of the time differences but I have been brewing a Guatemala on a C turbulence and a Sumatra on an E turbulence. It really is quite interesting to compare the same coffee brewed multiple ways only changing turbulence.
Does anyone have any idea what exactly each setting does? I have been meaning to time some of the settings as far as how long the turbulence is, but maybe Bunn can give that to us.
-Scott Coffee smells like freshly ground heaven. ~Jessi Lane Adams
The pre-infusion water amount, pause time and energy of the pre-infusion bubble cycle all change. Once brew cycle continues, the on/off cycle time, intensity of the air infusion (bubbles), and push out force all vary.
As we developed the “recipes” we learned the on/off total times only varied by a few seconds. For instance, on/off for C is 6/10, and on/off for E is 5/12, for total times of 16 and 17 seconds, respectively.
Entirely likely you would see the same number of on/off cycles when switching between those turbulence cycle settings. The min and max total times for all settings are 13 to 17 seconds.
The fun thing is the often dramatic differences in the brewed cup you will note as you change those turbulence cycle settings. Small adjustments in the air infusion cycle will amplify and highlight different notes in the great coffees you are brewing.
Happy Brewing
I plan to shoot videos of each turbulence setting when I'm doing water-only cleaning cycles and will post links to them here when they're finished.
Here's the first video, shot using 6 oz. of water on E-50. I'll definitely also do the other 4 turbulence settings at the :50 infusion time before long.
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