A system for preparing a liquid product, for example a beverage. The system comprises a product preparation assembly comprising a concentrate holder for holding product concentrate, a product feedthrough channel, and a concentrate supply channel for feeding a flow of product concentrate from said holder to said product feedthrough channel. The concentrate supply channel is provided with a valve member for regulating the flow of product concentrate, the valve member being movable with respect to the concentrate supply channel between a first position in which the flow of concentrate is blocked and a second position in which the flow of concentrate is enabled. The system comprises a product preparation apparatus configured to cooperate with the product preparation assembly. The apparatus comprises a liquid injector for supplying a flow of liquid into the product feedthrough channel, in particular via the valve member, wherein the liquid injector is configured to engage the valve member for moving the valve member. The apparatus comprises a controller configured for automatically controlling a movement of the valve member along a range of positions via actuation of the liquid injector, said range of positions extending between the first position and the second position.

The invention concerns a process for preparing a tea in a drinking receptacle with a tea brewing machine, said machine being configured:—to brew tea from a capsule, said capsule comprising tea leaves, by introducing hot water in said capsule and dispensing brewed tea from the capsule in the drinking receptacle, and—to pump and heat water and dispense hot water to the capsule, wherein said process comprises a step of pasteurization of tea leaves inside the capsule before dispensing brewed tea from the capsule inside the drinking receptacle, wherein said pasteurization step comprises the sub-steps of: p1)—introducing hot water in the capsule until all the tea leaves are submerged by hot water inside the capsule and stopping water introduction before tea is dispensed therefrom in the drinking receptacle, then p2) keeping all the tea leaves submerged in hot water during a period of time, wherein the temperature of hot water introduced in sub-step p1) and the sum of the periods of time of sub-steps p1) and p2) before dispensing tea from the capsule are set to pasteurize the tea leaves comprised in the capsule.

A coffee brewing system includes a brew vessel adapted to receive water and ground coffee to produce and store a brewed beverage. The brew vessel includes a filter and a magnet stirrer in the lower portion of the brew vessel. The magnet stirrer creates a water vortex for brewing the coffee. The used coffee grounds are allowed to settle on the filter creating a bed of used coffee grounds and the coffee is then filtered through both the bed of used coffee grounds and the filter and collected in a coffee storage container.

A beverage system and methods for preparing flavored beverages are provided. In one embodiment, the beverage system includes a housing, a flavorant system, and a processor. The housing includes a mixing chamber configured to operably couple to a fluid reservoir and pressurized gas source. The processor is disposed in the housing and can be configured to cause, in response to at least one input, the separate dispensing of a fluid and a flavorant into a receptacle. The processor can also cause the delivery of gas from the pressurized gas source to the mixing chamber, where it can be used to form a carbonated fluid.

A flavorant container for use in a beverage system is provided. The flavorant container can be retained by a beverage system to dispense flavorant, which can be mixed with carbonated and/or uncarbonated water. In one embodiment, the flavorant container includes a container, a cap, and one or more features located on the cap. The features can include an inlet that is able to receive pressurized air, and an outlet that is able to dispense a flavorant when the inlet receives the pressurized air. The features can also include at least one raised protrusion that is capable of being retained by a complimentary pattern located on a beverage system in order to properly seat the flavorant container in the beverage system.

A beverage preparation machine has a cooling module (70) for cooling a liquid beverage ingredient. The module comprises a heat exchanger (72) having a liquid conduit (74) and a thermal energy accumulator (80) comprising a phase change material (PCM) (82) thermally coupled to the heat exchanger. A heat pump (78) is thermally coupled to the heat exchanger discretely from the thermal energy accumulator so as to extract thermal energy from a liquid flowing through the liquid conduit in preference over the PCM. More than one thermal energy accumulator (80) may be coupled to the heat exchanger. The beverage preparation machine may have a flow-through heater for heating a liquid beverage ingredient.

A coffee machine comprises a water tank, steam boiler, a water pump, an external coffee dispenser, an external steam dispenser with a steam flow opening, a milk container having an emulsifying device having a mixing chamber to mix milk/steam/air, a milk aspirating channel with an inlet into the mixing chamber, an air aspirating channel having a valve and an inlet into the mixing chamber, the mixing chamber having a connection with the external steam dispenser and an outlet of the milk emulsion aligned to the steam dispensing opening and connected to an external dispenser of the milk emulsion. The outlet opening is larger than the steam dispensing opening. The milk aspirating channel has a passage area sufficiently large to provide milk aspiration by Venturi effect to the dispensing of a milk emulsion, at a temperature no more than 25° C. higher than the temperature of the milk in the milk container.

The utility model relates to the technical field of coffee machines, and discloses a manual coffee machine, comprising a liner, a coffee cup, a piston assembly and a driving rod. The driving rod is connected with the piston assembly and drives the piston assembly to rise and fall in the liner; the piston assembly separates an inner cavity of the liner into an upper cavity body and a lower cavity body; the piston assembly comprises a piston, a bracket and a valve core; the piston is provided with a water hole; and the valve core is limited and installed between the bracket and the water hole through the bracket. When the piston assembly rises and falls, the valve core unblocks or blocks the water hole. A pressure relief channel is arranged in the valve core; a port which communicates the pressure relief channel and the lower cavity body is a pressure relief port; a spring and a sealing body are installed in the pressure relief channel; and the spring is pressed against the sealing body on the pressure relief port. On the one hand, the valve core acts as a water valve switch; and on the other hand, the valve core can achieve the effect of decompression and protection. After water pressure exceeds a certain value, the pressure relief channel of the valve core is turned on to avoid an explosion accident caused by excessive water pressure in the lower cavity body; and the safety of the coffee machine is higher.

A liquid dispensing apparatus includes a container including a downwardly extending wall portion that defines a bottom opening through which a liquid in the container is dispensed; a valve; and an actuator connected to the valve for controlling dispensing of the fluid from the container. The actuator is movable along an axis between a dispensing position, in which liquid from the container is dispensed, the valve being open when the actuator is in the dispensing position; and a non-dispensing position, in which liquid from the container is not dispensed, the valve being closed when the actuator is in the non-dispensing position, and the actuator in the non-dispensing position being located further from the container than when in the dispensing position. A spring biases the actuator in a direction away from the container. The liquid may be dispensed into a bottle containing a hard seltzer for flavoring of the seltzer.

An automated self-cleaning frothing appliance includes: a housing having a base, a tower extending upwardly from the base, and a canopy extending from an upper portion of the tower above the base; a vessel mounted beneath the canopy, the vessel having an outlet at a lower end; a frothing tool extending from the canopy into the vessel; a first fluid pathway in the housing to receive water from a water source and deliver water into the vessel; a valve positioned to selectively open and close the outlet to the vessel; a valve-opening mechanism attached to the housing to selectively open and close the valve; a drain positioned beneath the outlet to receive water draining from the outlet; a second fluid pathway routed from the drain to deliver water to an external receptacle; and a controller operatively connected with the drive unit, the first fluid pathway and the valve-opening mechanism.