Foods and beverages: apparatus – Beverage – Infusors
Reexamination Certificate
2003-06-19
2004-10-19
Alexander, Reginald L. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Beverage
Infusors
C099S30200C, C099S284000, C099S287000, C426S433000, C426S112000, C426S115000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06805041
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for brewing beverages such as coffee or tea, including foamed beverages such as cappuccino.
It is known to brew individual portions of beverages such as a coffee and tea from prepacked individual sachets or capsules containing a single portion of the beverage brewing ingredient such as ground coffee or leaf tea. However, it is difficult to devise a packaging and brewing system that can be adapted to produce a full range of top quality freshly brewed beverages in individual portions, for example from vending installations.
Filter coffee and leaf tea are generally brewed at near-atmospheric pressure, but have different optimum brewing temperatures and times. Espresso coffee is brewed by forcing hot water through a compacted bed of coffee at a pressure of 5-15 bar and a temperature of 90° C. It has not hitherto been possible to brew individual portions of all of these beverages in a single apparatus.
GB-A-2121762, EP-A-0179641 and WO99/05036 describe a beverage brewing system according to which individual portions of beverage brewing ingredients are enclosed in flexible film sachets having an injection nozzle at the top and a seal at the bottom. A filter paper is also provided in a lower part of the sachet. In use, hot water is injected through the nozzle into the sachet. The beverage is brewed inside the sachet, and the seal at the bottom of the sachet is opened either before or during the brewing to allow the beverage to flow out through the bottom of the sachet. This apparatus provides very good quality, freshly brewed filter coffee and leaf tea in individual portions. However, the thin film sachets cannot withstand high brewing pressures inside the sachet, and therefore such sachets have not hitherto been used for brewing espresso coffee.
Furthermore, the sachets need to be formed from a relatively thick sheet materials, for example laminates formed from a layer of metal foil sandwiched between two thermoplastic films. This is needed in order to provide an oxygen and moisture barrier during storage, as well as to provide the sachets with sufficient strength to withstand the brewing conditions. Such sachets are then difficult to recycle, and contribute to landfill waste. Another difficulty is that the opening in the bottom of the sachet does not always direct the beverage accurately into the cup.
It is also known to brew individual portions of espresso coffee from individual capsules of ground coffee. The capsules typically contain a portion of ground coffee, tightly compacted in a capsule having a frustoconical or oblate spheroid shape and formed from air- and moisture-impermeable material. The capsule is inserted into a rigid, metal brewing chamber that is normally shaped to fit around the capsule tightly. The brewing chamber has a filter element in its base, means to pierce the underside of the capsule, and means to inject hot water at a pressure of 500-1500 kPa (5-15 bar) into the interior of the capsule to brew espresso coffee. Espresso coffee brewing capsules and systems of this type are described, for example, in WO93/17932 and WO94/02059.
A drawback of the existing espresso brewing capsules is that they are adapted for use with conventional espresso machines that have a rigid brewing cavity dimensioned to receive a bed of coffee of specific dimensions, and to apply the necessary pressure to such a bed of coffee. This means that the existing espresso capsule systems are not very flexible, either for varying the amount of coffee in the capsule, or for varying the degree of compaction of the coffee bed during brewing. A further drawback of the existing espresso systems is cross-contamination between the successive brews, since the beverage exiting the capsule passes through, and therefore contaminates, the base part of the brewing chamber.
EP-A-0521186 describes a capsule containing a compressed beverage brewing ingredient, such as ground coffee, for use in espresso-type machines. The capsule is deformable to assume the shape of the cavity of whichever espresso machine it is used in. This removes the need for a special adapter to adapt existing espresso machines to the exact shape and configuration of the capsule. Unfortunately, it also means that the coffee in the capsule may be insufficiently compacted for optimal espresso coffee brewing. The problem of cross-contamination by successive brews also exists for this configuration.
EP-A-0821906 describes methods of beverage brewing in which a vacuum pack containing a beverage brewing ingredient is placed in a clamp, hot water is injected into the vacuum pack through a hollow needle, and the brewed beverage is allowed to escape through a closing seam in the vacuum pack. The pack includes a movable plate opposite the closing seam of the vacuum pack that is used to compress the vacuum pack in the clamp before brewing. The plates making up the brewing cavity are rigid, flat plates. These plates cannot apply high pressure to squeeze the vacuum pack without risk of bursting the pack.
It is known to form edible foams from fresh milk, for example in milk shakes. It is also known to serve coffee and other hot beverages with a layer of hot milk foam over the liquid beverage. The hot milk foam is traditionally made by injecting steam under pressure through a hollow steam wand into cold fresh milk to heat and foam the milk. The milk foam is then poured onto liquid coffee to form the beverage, for example cappuccino or latte.
The milk foaming is normally carried out separately from the coffee brewing, because the essential oils present in coffee have deleterious effect on foaming. The traditional method of forming hot milk foam for cappuccino or latte does not lend itself to use in beverage vending installations. This is part because fresh or liquid milk is difficult to handle in such installations. Furthermore, most vending installations are not equipped to supply steam under pressure. In addition, the use of a steam wand immersed in the liquid milk would present cross-contamination and hygiene problems.
It is known to provide a powdered beverage whitener containing encapsulated nitrogen gas that produces a foam when it is dispersed in coffee. However, the foam does not have the same bulk and stiffness (spoonability) as a conventional cappuccino foam.
It is also known to produce a foam in a vending machine by depositing a powdered milk into a cup, followed by jetting hot water into the cup to dissolve the powdered milk and foam the milk by the action of high shear between the water jet and the milk. This suffers from the reduced consumer acceptability and mess associated with depositing a powdered milk into the cup. Furthermore, the milk powder may not dissolve completely. In order to achieve more complete dissolution of the powder it is necessary to move the jet relative to the cup by means of an X-Y table or similar equipment, thereby increasing the cost of the apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for the brewing of beverages from sachets of beverage brewing ingredients.
It is a further object to provide such an apparatus adapted to brew beverages from sachets of beverage brewing ingredients wherein the packages can have varying dimensions and/or may contain varying amounts of the beverage brewing ingredient.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a beverage brewing apparatus that permits beverage brewing to be carried out with novel combinations of brewing temperatures, pressures and brewing rates thereby resulting in new and improved beverages.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a beverage brewing apparatus that is adaptable to carry out both high pressure and low pressure beverage brewing.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a beverage brewing apparatus that produces little or no cross-contamination between successive brewed portions of beverages.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a beverage brewing apparatus that enables beverage brewing w
Caroen Adrian B.
Colston Martin E.
Cooke John C.
Fey Victor R.
Gee Christopher J.
Alexander Reginald L.
Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
Mars Incorporated
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