Provided is an apparatus for preparing a coffee beverage portion from a volume of water and a mass of coffee beans. The apparatus includes a brewing chamber for containing the ground coffee. The chamber admits water via an inlet. The water contacts the ground coffee contained within the chamber, and exits the chamber via an outlet. A ground coffee supplier dispenses coffee beans to the chamber, and a water supply supplies water to the chamber. A controller controls the ground coffee supplier and the water supply such that the coffee beverage portion is brewed in a plurality of brewing steps. Each brewing step includes passing a fraction of the water volume through the chamber so as to contact a further fraction of the coffee beans mass during a time period equal to the desired brewing time. Further provided is a method of preparing a coffee beverage portion.

A coffee grinder device includes a tank of coffee beans, at least one grinding member adapted to grind a quantity of coffee beans to obtain a coffee powder, a grain size adjustment device adapted to adjust at least one operating parameter of the grinding member to vary the grain size of the coffee powder, and a dispensing opening adapted to deliver the coffee powder towards a container adapted to receive the coffee powder.

The coffee grinder device also includes in correspondence with or downstream of the dispensing opening, an optical grain size sensor adapted to intercept the coffee powder exiting the dispensing opening and to generate at least a signal indicative of the grain size of the coffee powder. The grain size of the coffee powder is selectable by the grain size adjustment device on the basis of the signal indicative of the grain size of the coffee powder.

A coffee grinder device includes a tank of coffee beans, at least one grinding member adapted to grind a quantity of coffee beans to obtain a coffee powder, a grain size adjustment device adapted to adjust at least one operating parameter of the grinding member to vary the grain size of the coffee powder, and a dispensing opening adapted to deliver the coffee powder towards a container adapted to receive the coffee powder.

The coffee grinder device also includes in correspondence with or downstream of the dispensing opening, an optical grain size sensor adapted to intercept the coffee powder exiting the dispensing opening and to generate at least a signal indicative of the grain size of the coffee powder. The grain size of the coffee powder is selectable by the grain size adjustment device on the basis of the signal indicative of the grain size of the coffee powder.

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 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.

Provided is an alimentary-product assembling and dispensing device comprising: a plurality of alimentary-ingredient dispensers positioned to dispense respective ingredients in a plurality of different locations of a robotic work environment; a robot configured to receive an open-top vessel from an open-top-vessel dispenser and move the open-top vessel to the different locations to receive different ingredients from the plurality of alimentary-ingredient dispensers, wherein the robot comprises four or fewer degrees of freedom; and a vending aperture through which consumers retrieve vended alimentary products assembled by the robot from ingredients dispensed from the plurality of alimentary-ingredient dispensers.

Provided is an alimentary-product assembling and dispensing device comprising: a plurality of alimentary-ingredient dispensers positioned to dispense respective ingredients in a plurality of different locations of a robotic work environment; a robot configured to receive an open-top vessel from an open-top-vessel dispenser and move the open-top vessel to the different locations to receive different ingredients from the plurality of alimentary-ingredient dispensers, wherein the robot comprises four or fewer degrees of freedom; and a vending aperture through which consumers retrieve vended alimentary products assembled by the robot from ingredients dispensed from the plurality of alimentary-ingredient dispensers.

A brewer system includes a reservoir, a steep chamber movable relative to the reservoir and positioned over a mouth of the reservoir, and a filter tape positioned between the chamber and the reservoir. Brewing substance and water are added to the chamber to form a brewed beverage that passes through the filter tape and into the reservoir through the mouth.

A method for controlling an automatic coffee bean grinder (2) which is separate from an automatic coffee brewing machine (1) using ground coffee produced by said coffee bean grinder (2), is shown, wherein a flowmeter sniffer element (15) is located in or at a housing (3) of said coffee brewing machine (1) is capturing the water flow-through information measured by a water flowmeter (5) of said coffee brewing machine (1), and transmits the water flow-through information to a grinder control unit (26) located in the automatic coffee bean grinder (2), and the grinder control unit (26) controls the grinder module (24) as a function of the water flow-through information transmitted from said flowmeter sniffer element (15).

A method for controlling an automatic coffee bean grinder (2) which is separate from an automatic coffee brewing machine (1) using ground coffee produced by said coffee bean grinder (2), is shown, wherein a flowmeter sniffer element (15) is located in or at a housing (3) of said coffee brewing machine (1) is capturing the water flow-through information measured by a water flowmeter (5) of said coffee brewing machine (1), and transmits the water flow-through information to a grinder control unit (26) located in the automatic coffee bean grinder (2), and the grinder control unit (26) controls the grinder module (24) as a function of the water flow-through information transmitted from said flowmeter sniffer element (15).