The present invention describes methods and devices in which concentrated beverage products, each packaged in a pressurized container, can be combined with liquids and/or other ingredients to produce one or more servings of a beverage. These products provide users with a convenient way to prepare both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (including carbonated beverages) in various serving sizes and quantities by combining the pressurized beverage concentrate with (possibly carbonated) liquids and other ingredients.

A beverage system that produces a fermented beverage from two or more liquid streams, includes a first source including an ultra-high gravity beverage at a pressure of 82.7 kPa to 1034.2 kPa; a second source including a carbonated and/or nitrogenated water at a pressure of 82.7 kPa to 1034.2 kPa and and a temperature of 0° to 8°; a mixing point that allows mixing of the ultra high gravity beverage to blend with the carbonated and/or nitrogenated water to produce a fermented beverage; and a fluid line fluidly coupled to the mixing point and configured to allow the fermented beverage to flow to a dispensing tap. The fluid line has a length of 0.3048 m to 45.72 m and an inner diameter of 3.2 mm to 15.9 mm for at least a portion of the line.

A beverage dispensing unit includes a dispensing valve configured to be fluidly coupled to at least one beverage source, one or more ingredient pumps configured to be fluidly coupled to one or more ingredient sources, a dispensing manifold fluidly coupled to the dispensing valve and the one or more ingredient pumps, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive a recipe from a user, wherein the recipe indicates an amount of each ingredient of one or more ingredient sources. The controller is further configured to operate the one or more ingredient pumps to inject one or more of the ingredients into the dispensing manifold according to the recipe, and open the dispensing valve to allow a volume of beverage from the beverage source to flow through the dispensing manifold. The volume of beverage mixes with the one or more ingredients in the manifold and flushes the ingredients out of the manifold.

A dispensing apparatus is described having a beverage source, containing a carbonated beverage liquid, and a dispensing tap. The dispensing apparatus includes a dispense tube disposing the beverage source in fluid communication with the dispensing tap and an infusion chamber arranged in connection with the dispense tube and configured to infuse an infusing ingredient with the carbonated beverage liquid. The dispensing apparatus includes a sensing unit configured to determine a level of carbon-dioxide in the liquid downstream of the infusion chamber. The dispensing apparatus includes a carbon-dioxide source coupled to the dispense tube via a valve. The dispensing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to operate the valve to allow flow of carbon-dioxide gas based on the determined level of carbon-dioxide in the carbonated beverage liquid, so as to bring the level of carbon-dioxide to a pre-defined level.

The present invention is directed to a beverage mixing device (2) comprising a mixing body (3) defining a mixing chamber (30), at least one or a plurality of fluid inlets (4, 5, 6) for supplying a fluid (L, W, A, S) into the mixing chamber (30), a discharge opening (7) to discharge a liquid (P) from the mixing chamber (30), a sealing element (8) being moveably provided between a closed position for closing the discharge opening (7) and an open position for releasing the discharge opening (7) to allow a liquid (P) in the mixing chamber (30) be discharged via the discharge opening (7), and an evacuation outlet (9) for evacuating the mixing chamber (30) by a fluid (G) be introduced into the mixing chamber (30) via the at least one or the plurality of fluid inlets (4, 5, 6) when the discharge opening (7) is closed by the sealing element (8). The present invention is further directed to a beverage preparation device (1) comprising the beverage mixing device (2), a liquid supply (20), at least one or a plurality of product supplies (40), a gas supply (50), and a drainage (60). Also, the present invention is directed to a method for preparing a beverage product using the beverage preparation device according to the invention.

Exemplary embodiments include an apparatus that can be connected to a valve on a keg, such as a Sankey-D valve, and can be used to add gas into the keg to mix the contents, which may be including alcoholic spirts and a non-alcoholic drink mix. The apparatus has an upper structure which is coupled to a lower portion configured to mate with a keg valve. The filling apparatus may be designed to depress the ball valve and ring valve portions of the keg valve to allow for both the addition of gas and venting of gas from the keg simultaneously.

A self-propelling container having: a top; a bottom; a plurality of vertical walls extending between the bottom and the top; an inner bag for holding contents to be dispensed; a female coupling configured to receive and establish a friction seal with a male coupling of an external device for inserting or extracting the contents to or from the container after the friction seal is established between the female and male couplings; and at least one independent panel positioned inside the container; a compressible element associated with the at least one independent panel wherein during filling of the inner bag the compressible element is compressed, thus causing the at least one independent panel to exercise pressure onto the inner bag, and thus, helping to empty the inner bag.

A mixing nozzle (1) for mixing a concentrate and a diluent and dispensing the mixture is disclosed. The mixing nozzle includes: a concentrate conduit including a concentrate inlet port (2) and a concentrate outlet port (3) and a concentrate flowpath (4) therebetween, the conduit defining the longitudinal axis (XX′) of the mixing nozzle; a toroidal chamber (5) around said concentrate conduit having a water inlet conduit (6) tangentially disposed with respect thereto to create a swirling of the water in said chamber, said toroidal chamber presenting multiple openings (7) at the bottom wall of the toroidal chamber to create multiple flows of diluent around the concentrate outlet port (3); an assembly of multiple radially projecting ribs (10) provided downstream to the multiple openings (7) of the toroidal chamber, the ribs being curved at their downstream ends (10a) towards the mixing nozzle longitudinal axis (XX′).

The present invention provides a beverage machine with at least three distinct zones 1, 3, 4. A first zone 1 for storing a liquid or semi-liquid product at ambient temperature, a second zone 3 for processing the stored product, in particular for cooling the product to a predetermined serving temperature, and a third zone 4 for storing the cooled product and maintaining it at the predetermined serving temperature. From the third zone 4 an iced beverage can be dispensed.

Disclosed is a system for producing a beverage, in particular a cold beverage, comprising a cartridge that has a reservoir filled with a beverage substance, a beverage preparation unit with a cartridge receptacle into which the cartridge can be reversibly inserted, and a cartridge discharge device which causes at least partial transfer of the beverage substance from the reservoir into a mixing chamber; furthermore, the beverage preparation unit comprises a fluid supply which opens into the mixing chamber, or the system includes a movable plunger which is placed inside the reservoir and can be transferred from a starting position into a final position by means of the cartridge discharge device.