A system for dispensing individual servings of a beverage, said system comprising: a beverage receptacle holder adapted for retaining a beverage receptacle; a plurality of dry formulation beverage mixtures; selection means for selecting one or more of said beverage mixtures for said beverage; dispensing means for measuring an individual serving quantity of said selected one or more beverage mixtures and for depositing said individual serving quantity into said beverage receptacle; fluid dispensing module for depositing an individual serving quantity of a selected fluid into said beverage receptacle; means for sealing said beverage receptacle; and means for mixing said individual serving quantity of said beverage mixture and said fluid to provide a mixed beverage for dispensing.

A beverage making machine may include a cartridge holder to hold a cartridge used to form a beverage. The cartridge holder may include a lower portion arranged to receive and hold the cartridge and a movable upper portion arranged to clamp the cartridge in place. The cartridge holder may be arranged to hold upper and lower compartments of the cartridge in spaces having a different pressure, e.g., an upper compartment of the cartridge may be held under relatively high pressure, and a lower compartment may be held in a space at ambient pressure. The cartridge holder may pierce upper and/or lower compartments of the cartridge to introduce activating fluid and/or receive carbonating gas from the upper compartment, and/or to introduced pressurized air into the lower compartment to force beverage medium to exit.

A beverage machine arranged to image at least a portion of a capsule held by a beverage forming station of the machine. Parts of the beverage forming station may be movable between open and closed positions, and a portion of the capsule may be imaged while parts of the forming station are between open and closed positions. A capsule image may be captured only when forming station parts are moved toward the closed position, and image date discarded if the forming station is moved toward the open position prior to beverage formation.

A magnetic field focusing assembly includes a magnetic field generating device configured to generate a magnetic field, and a split ring resonator assembly configured to be magnetically coupled to the magnetic field generating device and configured to focus the magnetic field produced by the magnetic field generating device.

A magnetic field focusing assembly includes a magnetic field generating device configured to generate a magnetic field, and a split ring resonator assembly configured to be magnetically coupled to the magnetic field generating device and configured to focus the magnetic field produced by the magnetic field generating device.

A machine for preparing espresso drinks from ground coffee packaged in coffee pods (C), comprising an opening and emptying device (4, 10, 11), for opening and emptying in a dry condition coffee pods (C) of the ground coffee (P) contained therein, an espresso extraction block (E) to which the ground coffee (P) coming from said opening and emptying device is supplied to dispense an espresso drink, a coffee dregs container (F) for the collection of the spent coffee dregs (P.sub.E) coming from said extraction block (E) and an empty pod container (A) for the collection of the empty coffee pods (C) coming from said opening and emptying device.

This application provides a temperature control apparatus and a fermented tea manufacturing method. The temperature control apparatus includes: a base housing, a controller, a heating component, an air supply component, and a temperature sensing component, where the controller, the heating component, and the air supply component are disposed in an inner cavity of the base housing; the controller is electrically connected to the heating component; the controller is electrically connected to the air supply component; and the controller is electrically connected to the temperature sensing component; and the controller is configured to perform temperature control, and is specifically configured to: control, based on a temperature detected by the temperature sensing component, the heating component to start or stop working, so that a controlled temperature detected by the temperature sensing component is maintained in a first temperature interval; and control, based on a temperature detected by the temperature sensing component, the air supply component to start or stop working, so that a controlled temperature detected by the temperature sensing component is maintained in a second temperature interval. The temperature control apparatus in this application features a small volume, applicability to household purposes, easy operations, and low costs.

Systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments may enable maturing of spirits and other products. Various embodiments may be suitable for use in spirits refining businesses.

A beverage forming system in which a user interface is adapted to allow a user to control multiple different beverage machines that have different capabilities. A user may be associated with a plurality of different machines, and the user interface may be adapted to adjust display of information to the user and adjust options for controlling operation of a beverage machine based on the set of capabilities of the beverage machine. In some cases, only those stored sets of brew parameters that are compatible with a beverage machine may be displayed for user selection.

A machine (1) for preparing a beverage (3) comprises: a beverage processing unit (10, 20) delimiting a chamber (21) in which a flavouring ingredient (2) is held and mixed with water (4); one or more electric devices (60, 65, 721); and a connection (76) for powering the electric devices (60, 65, 721). The connection (76) is disconnectably connected to the electric devices (60, 65, 721) and removable therefrom. The connection (76) has a power connector (761) for connection to an external power source. The connection (76) includes an electric converter (762) that is configured to convert the electric power supplied by the external power source into a converted electric power appropriate to power one or more or all of the electric devices (60, 65, 721).