# Bunn Trifecta

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/bunn-trifecta/
Last updated: 2026-10-20

> The Bunn Trifecta is a commercial single-cup immersion brewer. Ground coffee goes into a brew cup, hot water rises up from below, and the machine pre-infuses the coffee, then jets air into the chamber to stir it ("Air Infusion"). At the end, air pressure presses the coffee out through a fine metal screen. Baristas can set 11 brewing variables.

## At a glance

- Grind: Medium-fine (table salt)
- Water temperature: 94 °C
- Category: Machines, Pods & Commercial (Hybrid)
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Origin: United States
- Also known as: Trifecta, air infusion brewer, Bunn Trifecta single-cup brewer

## Steps

1. **Load the brew cup**: Grind the coffee and add it to the brew cup, which locks in like a portafilter.
2. **Choose a recipe**: Pick a saved recipe; the Trifecta can store up to 15, each with its own settings.
3. **Pre-infusion**: Hot water rises from below into the chamber and pre-infuses the coffee.
4. **Air Infusion**: Air is jetted into the chamber in timed pulses to stir the coffee as it brews.
5. **Press-out**: The chamber is pressurised and the coffee is pressed out through a fine metal screen into the cup.

The **Bunn Trifecta** is a café brewer that makes one cup at a time in a way no hand method can: it **steeps** the coffee, **jets air** into the brew chamber to stir it, then uses **air pressure** to **press** the coffee out through a **fine metal screen**. Bunn calls this **Air Infusion**. Every step is programmable, with **11 variables** per recipe, so a café can dial in each coffee and repeat it exactly. Prima Coffee calls it "a completely new brew method". Here's how it works.

## The short version

- **A single-cup immersion brewer** for cafés and bars.
- **Air Infusion**: jets of air stir the coffee during brewing.
- **Press-out**: air pressure pushes the coffee through a metal screen.
- **11 adjustable variables**, up to 15 saved recipes.
- **Fuller, oilier cup**, like a French press; brews tea too.



## How does the Trifecta brew?

**Rusty Angel** of Bunn walked through a brew for Prima Coffee:

1. **Load the brew cup.** Ground coffee goes into a brew cup that locks into the machine like a portafilter.
2. **Choose a recipe.** The on-board computer stores up to **15 recipes**.
3. **Pre-infusion.** Hot water, fed from the boiler, rises into the chamber from below and saturates the coffee.
4. **Air Infusion.** Once the chamber reaches full volume, **air is injected** to create turbulence, in pulses that you time and set the strength of.
5. **Press-out.** The chamber is **pressurised** and the coffee pushed through the **metal filter** into your cup.

Then you knock out the grounds, rinse or wipe the brew cup and chamber, and the machine is ready for the next cup. It's **plumbed in**, with no water reservoir to fill.

![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with medium-fine highlighted for the Bunn Trifecta](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#medium-fine "Prima Coffee used a fine drip grind in the Trifecta.")

## What can you adjust?

Prima Coffee lists the Trifecta's **11 variables**:

| Setting | What it controls |
| --- | --- |
| Volume | Brew size, in 10 ml steps |
| Pre-wet | A cold-water cycle, mostly for tea |
| Pre-infusion | Share of the water used for pre-infusion |
| Fill-pause | How long pre-infusion lasts |
| Extraction time | Total brewing time |
| Turbulence on | How long each burst of air lasts |
| Turbulence off | The gap between bursts |
| Turbulence power | How strong the air is |
| Press-out power | How hard the coffee is pressed through the screen |
| Press-out time | How long the press-out takes |
| Water temperature | Prima's example: 94°C |

Bunn's Rusty Angel says the turbulence force should be matched to each coffee's density and roast, and that changing the press-out force shapes the finish, from long and lingering to drier.

## What does it taste like?

Fuller than paper-filtered coffee. Prima Coffee compares it to a [French press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/french-press/) or metal cone filter, with "this textured cup", while the air turbulence "gets really interesting flavors out". Bunn's listing says the metal screen preserves "coffee oils and aromatics for a deep-bodied, unique coffee experience". Prima's example brewed about **300 ml**; it can make anything from about **2 oz to 16 oz**.

## Who is it for?

Cafés, restaurants and coffee labs. Prima Coffee notes that it lets a café set every recipe in advance and have baristas brew single cups quickly and consistently, and that its isolated variables make it useful for **coffee labs** testing how each change affects the cup. Bunn markets it for the **specialty retail and bar** environment, for coffee and **tea**.

*General guidance only. The Trifecta is commercial equipment; follow Bunn's instructions for installation, plumbing and cleaning.*

## Bunn Trifecta vs other methods

- **[Clover](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/clover/):** another programmable single-cup café brewer, using vacuum.
- **[Alpha Dominche Steampunk](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/steampunk/):** a café brewing machine for single cups.
- **[French press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/french-press/):** immersion with a metal mesh, by hand.
- **[AeroPress](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/aeropress/):** pressing coffee through a filter, by hand.

Explore every machine method in the [machine chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/machine/).

## Words used in this guide

- [Steeping](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/steeping/): Steeping is leaving ground coffee to sit in water so its flavour dissolves out, as in a French press or cold brew.
- [Dialling in](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/dialling-in/): Dialling in means adjusting your recipe, usually the grind size first, until a coffee tastes right.
- [Immersion vs percolation](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/immersion-vs-percolation/): Immersion brewing steeps all the coffee in all the water at once, as a French press does.
- [Portafilter](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/portafilter/): A portafilter is the handle-and-holder you fill with ground coffee and lock into an espresso machine.
- [Bloom](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/bloom/): The bloom is the first small pour of water in a brew, usually 2–3 times the weight of the coffee, followed by a 30–45 second pause.
- [Total dissolved solids (TDS)](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/tds/): Total dissolved solids (TDS) measures how much coffee is dissolved in the cup, shown as a percentage.
- [Metal filter](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/metal-filter/): A metal filter is a fine stainless-steel mesh that holds back coffee grounds, as used in a French press plunger and some reusable pour-over filters.
- [Extraction](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/extraction/): Extraction is the process of water dissolving flavour compounds out of ground coffee.

## FAQs

### What is Air Infusion?

Bunn's name for the Trifecta's method: controlled air is injected into the brew chamber to agitate the coffee at set times, for a uniform extraction, and then air pressure presses the coffee out through a metal screen.

### What can you adjust on a Trifecta?

Eleven variables, including brew volume, pre-wet, pre-infusion, fill-pause, extraction time, turbulence on, turbulence off, turbulence power, press-out power, press-out time and water temperature.

### What does Trifecta coffee taste like?

Because it uses a metal filter, it lets oils through for a fuller, textured cup, more like a French press than paper filter, according to Prima Coffee.

### Can the Trifecta brew tea?

Yes. Bunn markets it for fine coffees and teas, and its pre-wet setting is a cold water cycle mostly used for tea, Prima Coffee says.

### How big a cup can it brew?

Prima Coffee says from about 2 oz up to 16 oz at a time, adjustable in 10 ml steps.

## Sources

- [Video overview: Bunn Trifecta automatic single-cup brewing system](https://prima-coffee.com/learn/video/overviews/video-overview-bunn-trifecta-automatic-single-cup-brewing-system/33103)
- [Video overview: Bunn Trifecta single-cup brewing system](https://prima-coffee.com/learn/video/overviews/video-overview-bunn-trifecta-single-cup-brewing-system/33165)
- [Bunn Trifecta, air infusion single cup brewer](https://www.ekuep.com/en/bunn-trifecta-air-infusion-single-cup-brewer)