BEVERAGE INGREDIENT CONTAINERS, METHODS OF MAKING AND METHODS OF USING THE SAME

Abstract

The invention provides a beverage machine insertable container comprising pieces of compacted beverage ingredient powder or granules.

Claims

1. A beverage machine insertable container comprising pieces of compacted beverage ingredient powder or granules.

2. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein at least one piece of beverage ingredient has a largest dimension of at least 1.5 mm.

3. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein the variation in the largest dimension between each of the pieces of beverage ingredient within the container is less than 10% of the biggest piece.

4. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein at least one of the pieces of beverage ingredient has a density of between 0.5 g/cm.sup.3 and 2 g/cm.sup.3.

5. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein at least one of the pieces of beverage ingredient has a mass of at least 0.08 g.

6. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein at least two of the pieces of beverage ingredient are substantially uniform in at least one of size, shape, density or mass.

7. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 6 wherein all of the pieces of beverage ingredient are substantially uniform in at least one of size, shape, density or mass.

8. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein the particles of beverage ingredient powder or granules that make up the pieces of beverage ingredient have a median particle size of between 50 μm and 600 μm.

9. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein at least one of the pieces of beverage ingredient comprises at least one ingredient selected from the list of: a fat, sugar, a sweetener, milk powder, soluble coffee, dairy creamer, non-dairy creamer or chocolate powder.

10. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein at least one of the pieces of beverage ingredient, and preferably a majority or all of the pieces, comprises at least 5 wt. % fat.

11. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein the beverage ingredient comprises an amount of dust making up less than 3 wt. % of the total amount of beverage ingredient in the container.

12. The beverage machine insertable container of claim 1 wherein the beverage ingredient container has a volume of between 15 ml to 80 ml.

13. A method of preparing a beverage ingredient capsule of claim 1 comprising steps of: a. providing a mass of a compacted beverage ingredient powder or granules; b. breaking the mass of compacted beverage ingredient powder or granules into pieces, c. sieving the pieces formed in step b) and; d. adding the beverage ingredient pieces of step b) to a beverage preparation machine insertable container.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the compacted mass of beverage ingredient powder or granules of step a) is produced by passing a beverage ingredient powder or granules between opposing rollers.

15. A method of preparing a beverage ingredient capsule of claim 1 comprising steps of: a. providing a beverage ingredient powder or granules; b. compacting the beverage ingredient powder or granules into individual pieces, and; c. adding the beverage ingredient pieces of step b) to a beverage preparation machine insertable container.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the force used to compact the beverage ingredient in step b) is between 0.8 kN and 2.5 kN.

17. A method of preparing a beverage comprising steps of: a. providing the beverage container of claim 1; b. transporting fluid through the container and dissolving and/or suspending at least a portion of at least some of the pieces in the fluid such that fluid exiting the container comprises at least a portion of the beverage ingredient dissolved and/or suspended therein, and; c. collecting at least a portion of the solution or suspension of beverage ingredient in a second container.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein there is a residue of beverage ingredient left in the container after beverage preparation of less than 25%. wt of the amount of beverage material in the container prior to beverage preparation.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the fluid transported in step b) is transported under a pressure of less than 10 bar.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0069] In order that the invention may be more clearly understood embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0070] FIG. 1 shows images of containers of the invention in the form of t-discs, of Example 1, before the lid was applied and before brewing;

[0071] FIG. 2 shows images of residues in the t-disc of example 1 after brewing;

[0072] FIG. 3 shows images of containers of the invention in the form of t-discs, of example 3 before the lid was applied and before brewing; and

[0073] FIG. 4 shows images of residues in the t-discs of example 3 after brewing.

[0074] In the Figures, like numerals represent like or identical components.

[0075] With reference to FIG. 1, five beverage machine-insertable containers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) (“t-discs”) filled with the pieces of compacted chocolate powder of the invention are shown Moving through the images clockwise from the top left: the first filled t-disc (1) comprises a big t-disc housing (100), and pieces of compacted powder (11); the second filled t-disc (3) comprises a big t-disc housing (100), and pieces of compacted powder (13); the third filled t-disc (5) comprises a big t-disc housing (100), and pieces of compacted powder (15); the fourth filled t-disc (7) comprises a small t-disc housing (200), and pieces of compacted powder (17); and the fifth filled t-disc (9) comprises a small t-disc housing (200), and pieces of compacted powder (19).

[0076] With reference to FIG. 2, the five beverage machine-insertable containers (21, 23, 25, 27, 29) of FIG. 1 are shown after use with the foil lid partially removed in order to see the relative amounts of residue left inside. Moving through the images clockwise from the top left: the first filled t-disc of FIG. 1, after use (21) comprises a big t-disc housing (100) and wet residue of compacted powder (31); the second filled t-disc of FIG. 1, after use (23) comprises a big t-disc housing (100) and wet residue of compacted powder (33); the third filled t-disc of FIG. 1, after use (25) comprises a big t-disc housing (100) and wet residue of compacted powder (35); the fourth filled t-disc of FIG. 1, after use (27) comprises a small t-disc housing (200) and wet residue of compacted powder (37); and the fifth filled t-disc of FIG. 1, after use (29) comprises a small t-disc housing (200) and wet residue of compacted powder (39).

[0077] With reference to FIG. 3, three beverage machine-insertable containers (41, 43, 45) filled with alternative pieces of compacted chocolate powder of the invention are shown. Moving through the images from left to right: the sixth filled t-disc (41) comprises a big t-disc housing (100) and alternative pieces of compacted powder (51); the seventh filled t-disc (43) comprises a small t-disc housing (200) and alternative pieces of compacted powder (53); and the eighth filled t-disc (45) comprises a small t-disc housing (200), and alternative pieces of compacted powder (55).

[0078] With reference to FIG. 4, the three beverage machine-insertable containers (41, 43, 45) filled with alternative pieces of compacted chocolate powder of FIG. 3 are shown after use with the foil lid partially removed in order to see the relative amounts of residue left inside. Moving through the images from left to right: the sixth filled t-disc of FIG. 3, after use (61) comprises a big t-disc housing (100) and wet residue of compacted powder (71); the seventh filled t-disc of FIG. 3, after use (63) comprises a small t-disc housing (200) and wet residue of compacted powder (53); and the eighth filled t-disc of FIG. 3, after use (65) comprises a small t-disc housing (200) and wet residue of compacted powder (75).

[0079] Big t-disc housings (100) for all Examples have an internal volume of about 56 ml and small t-disc housings (200) have an internal volume of about 25 ml.

EXAMPLE 1

[0080] An embodiment of a beverage machine insertable container comprising pieces of a compacted chocolate powder of the first aspect of the invention produced by the method of the second aspect of the invention was produced and tested as set out below.

[0081] A control chocolate powder, comprising 42% sucrose, 22% skimmed milk powder, 10% whole milk powder, 9% cocoa powder, 3% coconut oil, 6% glucose syrup solids, 5% sweet whey powder and some additional minor ingredients such as flavourings was provided. The control chocolate powder had a median particle size of 180 microns and other physical properties as shown in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Chocolate powders Bulk density Bed Water Sample (g/l) porosity activity Control chocolate powder 600 0.4 0.371 Pieces of compacted chocolate 690 0.525 0.352 powder of the invention

[0082] A portion of the control chocolate powder was passed between two opposing rollers, each of 20 mm width and 200 mm diameter, in order to produce a sheet of compacted chocolate powder. The rollers were rotated at a rate of 10 rpm and had a force applied between them of around 1 ton. The sheet of compacted chocolate powder was then broken in a dry mixer and the product sieved through a 1.8 mm sieve. Product that passed through the sieve was rejected and reworked through the process. Pieces of compacted chocolate powder of the invention (11, 13, 15, 17, 19) remained on the sieve.

[0083] Portions of the pieces of compacted chocolate powder of the invention (11, 13, 15, 17, 19) and, separately, portions of the control chocolate powder were loaded into standard big and small Tassimo® t-discs (100, 200) and brewed using the respective big and small disc standard Milka® chocolate programmes on a Tassimo chassis 6 brewer and average residue remaining in the discs after 5 repetitions of each was measured, as shown in Table 2. The residues (31, 33, 35, 37, 39) were dried in a vacuum drier before measurements of the residue were taken.

[0084] The Tassimo® chassis 6 machine provides water heated to between 85 and 95° C. and target drink volume of 160 ml to 235 ml

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Brew performance control chocolate powder vs compacted chocolate powder Average % Test T - disc Fill weight dry residue # Sample size (g) after brew Control Control chocolate powder Big 30 12 Control Control chocolate powder Small 11.5 6 1 Pieces of compacted Big 30.25 8.10 chocolate powder of the invention 2 Pieces of compacted Big 38.15 10.62 chocolate powder of the invention 3 Pieces of compacted Big 35.41 4.91 chocolate powder of the invention 4 Pieces of compacted Small 11.63 2.41 chocolate powder of the invention 5 Pieces of compacted Small 17 1.94 chocolate powder of the invention

[0085] Referring to FIG. 1, the first filled t-disc (1) was used in Test 1; the second filled t-disc (3) was used in Test 2; the third filled t-disc (5) was used in Test 3; the fourth filled t-disc (7) was used in Test 4; and the fifth filled t-disc (9) was used in Test 5. The t-discs shown (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) are shown filled to various fill weights of the compacted chocolate powder of the invention as set out in Table 2 prior to brewing.

[0086] Referring to FIG. 2, t-discs (21, 23, 25, 27, 29) are shown opened and after brewing to show the relative amount residues that remain in each disc and correspond to the t-discs of FIG. 1 (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, respectively). FIG. 2 shows the residue remaining in the disc of Test 1 (31), the residue remaining in the disc of Test 2 (33), the residue remaining in the disc of Test 3 (35), the residue remaining in the disc of Test 4 (37) and the residue remaining in the disc of Test 5 (39).

[0087] For the same fill weight, the pieces of compacted chocolate powder of the invention were shown to give less residue in the disc after brewing than the control product. Even at increased fill weights the compacted product of the invention gave lower residues showing the benefit of the invention over the control as a means of reducing the size of disc required for a given drink volume or increasing the maximum size of drink that can be prepared or increasing the concentration of a given drink.

EXAMPLE 2

[0088] An embodiment of a beverage machine insertable container comprising pieces of a compacted milk powder of the first aspect of the invention produced by the method of the second aspect of the invention was produced and tested in the same way as the chocolate powder in Example 1.

[0089] The control milk powder contained 64% skimmed milk powder, 27.5% sugar and 8.25% Cream powder (total fat of 7.9%). The powder was processed in the same ways as the chocolate powder of Example 1 to yield pieces of compacted milk powder of the invention.

[0090] Portions of the pieces of compacted milk powder of the invention and, separately, portions of the control milk powder were loaded into standard big Tassimo® t-discs and brewed using the big disc standard milk programmes on a Tassimo® chassis 6 brewer and average residue remaining in the discs after 5 repetitions of each was measured, as shown in Table 3. The residue was dried in a vacuum drier before measurements were taken.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Brew performance control milk powder vs compacted milk powder Average % Test T - disc Fill weight dry residue # Sample size (g) after brew Control Control milk powder Big 30 8 6 Pieces of compacted milk Big 30.2 6.2 powder of the invention 7 Pieces of compacted milk Big 38.15 7.6 powder of the invention

[0091] For the same fill weight, the pieces of compacted milk powder of the invention were shown to give less residue in the disc after brewing than the control product. Even at increased fill weights the compacted product of the invention gave lower residues showing the benefit of the invention over the control as a means of reducing the size of disc required for a given drink volume or increasing the maximum size of drink that can be prepared or increasing the concentration of a given drink.

EXAMPLE 3

[0092] An embodiment of a beverage machine insertable container comprising pieces of a compacted chocolate powder of the first aspect of the invention produced by the method of the third aspect of the invention was produced and tested as set out below.

[0093] The control chocolate powder of Example 1, comprising 42% sucrose, 22% skimmed milk powder, 10% whole milk powder, 9% cocoa powder, 3% coconut oil, 6% glucose syrup solids, 5% sweet whey powder and some additional minor ingredients such as flavourings was provided. The control chocolate powder had a median particle size of 180 microns and other physical properties as shown in Table 1.

[0094] A portion of the control chocolate powder was passed between 2 opposing rollers comprising opposing cavities with which to form pieces of compacted powder. The cavities were broadly disc-shaped with a diameter of 10 mm and depth of 1.25 mm or 2.25 mm (to form corresponding pieces of 2.5 mm, or 4.5 mm thickness) in turn to form two batches of samples of alternative compacted pieces of chocolate powder of the invention with different dimensions. The rollers were rotated at a rate of 30 mm/min and had a force applied between them of around 1.5 kN. The resultant alternative compacted pieces of chocolate powder of the invention had physical properties as show in Table 4.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Physical properties of the batches of the alternative pieces of compacted chocolate powder of the invention. Diameter Height Piece weight Sample (mm) (mm) (g) Alternative pieces of 10 4.5 0.35 compacted chocolate powder of the invention - Batch 1 Alternative pieces of 10 2.5 0.2 compacted chocolate powder of the invention - Batch 2

[0095] Each of the two batches of the pieces of compacted chocolate powder of the invention and, separately, portions of the control free-flowing chocolate powder were loaded into standard big and small Tassimo® t-discs (100, 200, respectively) and brewed using the respective big and small disc standard Milka® chocolate programmes on a Tassimo® chassis 6 brewer and average residue remaining in the discs after five repetitions of each was measured, as shown in Table 5. The residues (71, 73, 75) were dried in a vacuum drier before measurement of each residue was taken.

[0096] The Tassimo® chassis 6 machine provides water heated to between 85 and 95° C. and target drink volume of 160 ml to 235 ml

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Brew performance control chocolate powder vs alternative compacted chocolate powder Average % Test T - disc Fill weight dry residue # Sample size (g) after brew Control Control chocolate powder Big 30 12 Control Control chocolate powder Small 11.5 6 8 Alternative pieces of Big 30.1 10.5 compacted chocolate powder of the invention - Batch 1 9 Alternative pieces of Small 11.68 5.2 compacted chocolate powder of the invention - Batch 1 10 Alternative pieces of Big 30.1 1.85 compacted chocolate powder of the invention - Batch 2 11 Alternative pieces of Small 13 2.46 compacted chocolate powder of the invention - Batch 2

[0097] Referring to FIG. 3, the sixth filled t-disc (41) was used in Test 8; the seventh filled t-disc (43) was used in Test 9 and the eighth filled t-disc (45) was used in Test 11. The t-discs shown (41, 43, 45) are shown filled to various fill weights as set out in Table 5 prior to brewing with either Batch 1 or Batch 2 of the alternative pieces of compacted chocolate powder of the invention of Table 4 prior to brewing.

[0098] Referring to FIG. 4, the t-discs (61, 63, 65) are shown opened and after brewing to show the relative amount residues that remain in each disc and correspond to the t-discs of FIG. 3 (41, 43, 45, respectively). FIG. 4 shows the residue remaining in the disc of Test 8 (61), the residue remaining in the disc of Test 9 (63), the residue remaining in the disc of Test 11 (65).

[0099] The pieces of the alternative compacted chocolate powder of the invention from Batch 1 with individual piece weight of 0.35 g were shown to give less residue in the disc after brewing than the control product.

[0100] The pieces of the alternative compacted chocolate powder of the invention from Batch 2 with individual piece weight of 0.2 g were shown to give very significantly less residue in the disc after brewing than the control product and less residue than the example of batch 1 using pieces of 0.35 g. This is believed to be because of the improved surface area to volume ratio of including more, smaller pieces of compacted powder.

[0101] The above embodiments are described by way of example only. Many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.