The Tricolate [pronounced: trick-o-late] is a a zero by-pass brewer invented, designed, and built in South Australia. An 80mm cylindrical brewer with a shower head dispersion lid engineered with a specific flow rate for better extraction. Bypass brewing is the act of water escaping the coffee bed via ridges or paper filters which causes underextraction once the water has minimal contact with the bed and drops into the intended vessel underneath. Zero—or No—bypass brewing eliminates the ability for water to empty the chamber without passing through the coffee grounds. The Tricolate paper filters—manufactured in Germany—are laboratory grade with a more consistent pore structure for less paper taint.
While there are different brewing methods using the Tricolate, this is our preferred method at Abide Culture Coffee Roasters:
Laundry List:
Abide Culture Coffee: whole bean coffee
Tricolate
Tricolate filter
grinder•
gram scale
kettle
cup or decanter
hot water [300g](off-boil, around 195°F-200°F)
timer
•a burr grinder allows the grind to be more consistent.
measure out 15g of coffee [dose] and grind it fine/medium: about 500µm .
NOTE: when using a lighter roast—for better extraction—grind a little finer and lower your water:bean ratio. if using a 16:1, try a 15:1 or 14:1.
Step 2
place the tricolate onto the cup or decanter. drop a dry filter down the tricolate and let it settle to the bottom. rinse the filter using hot water: in a circular motion, starting in the center, outward. this is important because it rinses the paper flavor and heats the cup or decanter. dump the water and place the tricolate combination on your scale.
Step 3
pour your ground coffee into the tricolate on top of the filter. level it out with a little shake to create a flat bed. place the shower head lid a top the tricolate. tare—or zero—the scale. start your timer and begin the pour into the shower head lid: the shower head will disperse the water evenly across the coffee grounds with a specific flow rate and a consistent height; this is where the zero bypass ingenuity comes in to play. at 40g of water poured, swirl the tricolate and allow the coffee to bloom for 35 seconds.
the weiss distribution technique: the weiss distribution tool [WDT] has a handle with between four to nine thin—stainless steel and food grade—needles attached; each needle is less than 1mm in diameter. depending on the grind of the coffee: different techniques can be used for puck preparation. using circular and overlapping motions, uses the WDT to unclump and distribute the coffee for better extraction.
Step 5
allow the water to drip through the coffee entirely. the entire brewing process should take between three to four minutes. once finished, discard the filter and coffee grounds.
NOTE: if using a decanter, transfer the product to a favorite coffee cup.
TIP: instead of throwing away used coffee grounds, we like to add them into our compost mixture.
Step 6
swirl. pour. sip. enjoy.