A beverage system for producing and dispensing a beverage for controlled serving dispensing which includes a maker module for dispensing a beverage ingredient such as tea to a dispensing module which then communicates with a mixing module for controlled serving dispensing. Another embodiment of the beverage apparatus includes a dispense module which receives beverage from a making module and in which the dispensing module is transferable to a mixing module for subsequent controlled serving dispensing. Further, additional features such as sweetener integration, controlled mixing, controlled dispensing, and product characteristic sensing may be provided.

A device to produce personalized mixtures of substances is configured to be controlled by computer program code running on a user terminal. The computer program code enables a user of the user terminal to create and personalize the formulas for optimizing the beverage according to the specific needs of the user and order the beverages from a remote location.

A brewing assembly for a refrigerator appliance includes a dispensing assembly for selectively dispensing a flow of water within a chilled chamber of the refrigerator appliance. A pitcher is removably positioned below the dispensing assembly and includes an upper reservoir for receiving, storing, and slowly distributing the flow of water into a brew module positioned below the upper reservoir and comprising a plurality of canisters for receiving brewing contents and the flow of water to create a brewed beverage. A lower reservoir is positioned below the brew module for receiving the brewed beverage from the plurality of canisters.

A method for determining a characteristic of a mass of particulate plant material having the step of determining the density of a mass of particulate plant material, wherein the mass of particulate plant material is prepared from a plant seed, from a coffee bean and/or by grinding a plant material. The invention also relates a system or apparatus for measuring the density of a mass of particulate plant material, wherein the system or apparatus has an experimental vessel having a void configured to retain a mass of particulate plant material therein, volume determination is configured to determine the volume occupied by a mass of particulate plant material that has been disposed within the void of the experimental vessel.

The method comprises the steps of loading ground coffee in a dispensing chamber; pressing said ground coffee present in the dispensing chamber by means of a piston (1) for the compaction thereof; dispensing the ground coffee; supplying the brewed coffee to a user; and determining if the position of the piston (1) varies depending on the amount of ground coffee that is loaded in said dispensing chamber.

The machine comprises a dispensing chamber in which the ground coffee is loaded and in which said ground coffee is distributed; a piston (1) which presses the ground coffee in said dispensing chamber for the compaction thereof; and a motor (2) which actuates the movement of said piston (1) a predetermined distance after the dispensing if it is determined that the amount of ground coffee present in the dispensing chamber is greater than a predetermined minimum amount.

A coffee beverage production device capable of using various information related to coffee beverage production. A coffee beverage production device for producing a coffee beverage by acquiring recipe information used for a part or all of steps of coffee beverage production and referring to parameters included in the recipe information, the coffee beverage production device including a storage part configured to store comments related to the parameters.

Container for storing a liquid and allowing extraction of the liquid on-demand. The container comprises a casing for storing the liquid, the casing defining an aperture. The container comprises a resealable membrane covering the aperture of the casing, the resealable membrane being adapted for receiving a liquid extraction tube therethrough for on-demand liquid extraction from the casing, the resealable membrane automatically resealing the aperture upon withdrawal of the liquid extraction tube. The container comprises an air permeable membrane for balancing a pressure in the casing upon extracting liquid by the liquid extraction tube. The resealable membrane and the air permeable membrane are provided as a cap for closing the aperture of the casing. Alternatively, the casing, the resealable membrane and the air permeable membrane are provided as a capsule. A multi-servings beverage dispensing system is adapted for receiving the container in removable engagement.

A method of brewing coffee includes the following steps:requesting a user to select a coffee-based beverage on an input device coupled to a coffee brewing apparatus; selecting a suitable water recipe from a database comprising a plurality of water recipes suited for brewing coffee, wherein the selected water recipe is suited to the selected coffee-based beverage, wherein the water recipe defines a set mineral concentration of brewing water to be prepared; requesting a water preparation unit to prepare a brewing water based on the water recipe, wherein the water preparation unit is adapted to mineralize the brewing water according to the set mineral concentration of the water recipe; preparing brewing water based on the water recipe; and brewing the coffee-based beverage with the brewing water prepared according to the water recipe.

A method to prepare a beverage in a machine for preparing beverages, including: receiving through a user interface associated with a control and command unit the selection of a type of beverage to be prepared selected between a beverage obtained by infusion, or hot water; disenabling the commands of said user interface not related to the type of beverage selected, and enabling the commands correlated to the type of beverage selected, in order to allow the selection by the user of further specific organoleptic characteristics for the type of beverage selected; receiving and verifying the characteristics selected and conditioning the various functioning factors of said machine in relation to the specific selected characteristics and the operating parameters provided for the specific selected beverage.

A brewing apparatus may include a chassis. The chassis may include a chassis beverage cup base. A chassis beverage cup cavity defined within the chassis beverage cup base may be configured to receive a beverage cup of a plurality of beverage cups. The brewing apparatus may include an adaptor insert assembly dimensioned to fit within the chassis beverage cup cavity. An adaptor insert cavity defined within the adaptor insert may be configured to receive a second beverage cup of a plurality of beverage cups. The brewing apparatus may include a controller configured to acquire data about the beverage cup or the second beverage cup via the one or more sensors. The controller may be configured to at least one of select or adjust a catering profile of a plurality of catering profiles based on the acquired data.