AU2002216969A1 - Soluble powder for espresso type beverage - Google Patents

Description

TITLE : Soluble Powder for Espresso Type Beverage

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a soluble coffee beverage powder, which, upon the addition of water, is forming a coffee beverage having a foamed upper surface. In particular the invention relates to a soluble coffee beverage which when reconstituted has a "crema".

Background to the Invention

Soluble coffee beverage products are well known products, which upon the addition of water (usually hot) provide a coffee beverage. It is also well known to mix the soluble coffee powder with soluble creamer or whitener powders to produce whitened coffee beverages. These classical soluble beverage products are coffee beverages without any foam on the upper surface. Soluble coffee beverage products of the instant "cappuccino" type are also known and are commercially available. Usually these products are dry mixes of a soluble coffee powder and a soluble whitener powder. The soluble whitener powder contains pockets of gas, which, upon dissolution of the powder, produce foam. Therefore, upon the addition of water (usually hot), a whitened coffee beverage, which has a milk based foam on its upper surface, is formed; the beverage resembling, to a greater or less extent, traditional Italian cappuccino.

In coffee bars and restaurants it is usual to serve freshly brewed black coffee which is prepared on the basis of roast and ground. The freshly brewed black coffee is characterised by a light brown foamy layer that covers the upper surface of the beverage. The coffee is usually prepared on an espresso type of machine on which one may e.g. brew a short strong espresso or a larger cup of black coffee.

The light brown foamy layer on the espresso is not milk based, as is the case for cappuccino beverages, but originating from the carbon dioxide and air captured in the coffee ground which is released when the coffee is brewed. The foamy layer on an espresso is often referred to as a "crema". The crema on a freshly brewed espresso is characterised light brown foamy layer, which covers substantially all the surface of the beverage, and remains on it during consumption. The espresso type of beverage is generally found attractive to consumers.

However, espresso type beverages have a particular bitter taste, which to some consumers are considered too strong. A common problem when aiming to reduce bitterness of coffee beverage is that the coffee aroma will be diluted as well. Further, if e.g. sugar is used to mask bitterness in a coffee beverage, once sufficient sugar has been added to the beverage, sugar becomes dominant in the cup profile. Milk, especially whole milk, may be used for balance of aggressive note of the coffee beverage and mask the potential process notes. However, milk as such is found not to be sufficient for masking the bitterness of the coffee beverage .

There is a need for a new soluble coffee beverage, which is an alternative to the above-discussed soluble beverage powder and to freshly brewed espresso type of beverages.

An aim of the invention is to provide a soluble coffee beverage which closely assimilates the texture characteristics of an Italian espresso, namely a beverage with a fine crema, but which has a reduced bitterness compared with freshly brewed espresso but which nevertheless is strong in aroma.

A further aim of the invention is to provide a soluble coffee beverage which has a crema that substantially covers all of the surface of beverage in a thin layer and that it is sufficient stable that it remains on the surface of a beverage until the last sip of the beverage. Further it is an aim of the invention to provide a soluble coffee beverage which comprises a soluble coffee creamer which can be reconstituted without flocculation problems.

In addition it is an aim of the invention to provide a soluble coffee beverage powder which has a substantially homogeneous colour.

Summary of the Invention

Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention provides a soluble coffee beverage powder, which, upon the addition of water, is forming a coffee beverage having a foamed upper surface, the soluble coffee beverage powder is characterised by a soluble gas containing matrix comprising from between 10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix, from about 10% to about 35 % pre- flocculated creamer by weight, from about 12% to about 30% oligosacchrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer by weight, and that the soluble beverage powder upon reconstituting provides a foamed upper surface based upon all of the ingredients, and in which foamed upper layer substantially all of the foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm.

It has surprisingly been found that a soluble coffee beverage of the above- discussed kind may be obtained by providing a wet mixed of between 10 and 35% of coffee solids and 10 to 35% coffee creamer , and 12 to 30% oligosacchrides the viscosity of the wet mix is lowered compared to that of milk or cream wet mix without coffee. This enables that, when the wet mix then subsequently subjected to gassing in an amount effective to foam the product, a fine gas bubble is capable of being generated. The size of these bubbles is substantially smaller than bubbles e.g. generated in when foaming conventional coffee creamers based on milk or cream solids. If the gassed wet mix subsequently is subjected to a homogenisation step a further reduction of the bubble gas size in the wet mix may be obtained. The gas bubbles of a small size are retained in the product once it has been dried. When the soluble beverage powder is reconstituted it has a foam upper surface of fine bubbles with the characteristics of an espresso crema.

It has further been found that aqueous based aroma render it self to be particular useful to use in the present invention. When aqueous based aroma is used in a wet mix it uses milk fat or other fat in the coffee creamer as a carrier. Further, it has been found that the aqueous aroma masks the cooked taste of the coffee and contributes with a fresh brewed taste to the beverage. In this context it should be appreciated that aqueous based aroma is normally the part of the aroma which is considered a waste product. This makes it even more surprising that the aqueous based aroma has the here-described advantages. It has also been found that the cup profile of such a formulation lacks of bitterness and other notes typically of fresh brewed coffee. This may be possible to obtain with some soluble beverage powder, but often special soluble beverage notes are present such as notes associated with "dry", "caramel" and "bready" notes. These notes may be reduced by adding milk or coffee whitener to the soluble beverage, but they cannot be eliminated totally in this way. It has surprisingly been found that by using aqueous aroma these kind of notes may be eliminated totally.

Surprisingly, the aqueous aroma also masks the cooked notes of the milk powder or creamer component usually in soluble milk coffee beverages. Further, the aqueous aroma boosts the coffee aroma intensity without any aggressive notes or off flavours.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ingredients are wet mixed together prior to drying. This gives an attractive substantially homogeneous colour to the coffee beverage powder. Advantageously coffee aroma is incorporated in the wet mix as well.

Preferably aqueous based aroma as discussed above is used. This has the advantage that the coffee aroma is also present in the foam on the surface of the beverage, as opposed to e.g. the milk-based foam on a cappuccino which usually lacks aroma. The beverage provided by the invention may therefore have a foamer with a strong smell of coffee, which corresponds to the crema on an

Italian espresso.

It is of course possible to merely mix together a soluble coffee powder and an appropriate creamer powder to provide a soluble beverage powder having the coffee and creamer in the correct proportions. However, the soluble beverage powder obtained does not provide an acceptable solution. In particular, the soluble coffee powder and the creamer powder are prone to separate to some extent during storage. Therefore it is difficult to ensure that the soluble beverage powder is completely homogeneous. Also the soluble beverage powder does not have a homogeneous colour. Further, upon reconstitution, the milk proteins in the creamer tend to flocculate and this severely affects consumer perception of the product.

Further, it is not possible to produce an acceptable product by simply mixing together a liquid creamer and a coffee extract and then drying the mixture to powder. Although the powder obtained will be homogeneous, when reconstituted, flocculated milk proteins are very visible in the beverage obtained.

The flocculated milk proteins severely affect consumer acceptability. The problem of flocculation of the milk proteins in coffee beverages has been satisfactorily dealt with in US patent 5,620,733. This patent describes a process in which the milk proteins are subjected to a controlled flocculation step during processing. Subsequently to the controlled flocculation step, the liquid creamer and a small amount of coffee extract are subjected to homogenisation and drying to provide a creamer powder. Further soluble coffee powder is then dry mixed in with the creamer powder. After processing in this way, any flocculated milk proteins in the reconstituted beverage are too small to be visible. In the context of the present invention it is desirable to subject the wet mix to a pre-flocculation treatment corresponding to that of US patent 5,620,733.

It has further surprisingly been found that in a wet mix of this kind coffee solids in as high as between 25% and 35% coffee solids by weight may be mixed with a creamer if this creamer has been subject to a pre-flocculation treatment. This may be possible without any flocculation of the milk protein in the coffee creamer. For some purposes it is advantages to add stabilisers to the wet mix gives the beverage a lighter colour. It is preferred that from 0.25% to 1.5% of stabilisers by weight is added to the ingredients.

In the present context unless otherwise indicated the weight % given are based on the weight of the solids in the final product. In another aspect, this invention provides a process for providing a soluble coffee beverage powder, which, upon the addition of water, is forming a coffee beverage having a foamed upper surface, the process is characterised by providing between 10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix, from about 10% to about 35 % pre-flocculated creamer by weight, and from about 12% to about 30% oligosacchrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer by weight, mixing the ingredients to a wet mix with a liquid, incorporating gas into the mixture, and drying the wet mix to a soluble beverage powder comprising a gas- containing matrix, which soluble beverage powder upon reconstituting provides a foamed upper surface based upon all of the ingredients, and in which the foamed upper layer substantially all of the foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention are now described, by way of example only.

For the preparation of the beverage powder coffee solids is conveniently provided in coffee liquor. The coffee liquor may be obtained using any suitable procedure. Usually, the coffee liquor is prepared by concentrating a coffee extract obtained from a coffee extraction process to the desired coffee concentration. The coffee extract may be produced in the usual manner by subjecting roasted coffee beans to extraction. Any suitable extraction procedure may be used because the choice and design of the extraction procedure is a matter of preference and has no critical impact on the invention. Suitable extraction procedures are described in European patent applications 0826308 and 0916267; the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference. Similarly, any suitable concentration procedure may be used because the choice and design of the concentration procedure is a matter of preference and has no critical impact on the invention. Of course, the coffee liquor may also be prepared by dissolving soluble coffee powder in water to the desired concentration.

Coffee replacers or surrogates may also be used such as chicory. This will however provide a cup profile, which is less aromatic and has no coffee aroma at all.

Soluble creamer powders are well known and are widely used; particularly as coffee or tea creamers. Conventionally creamer powders contain protein, fats and sweeteners but other ingredients such as emulsifiers, stabilisers and buffers may also be included. Further, the creamers come in various forms such as milk- based creamer powders and non-dairy creamer powders, and gassed creamer powders. These creamer powders are typically produced by subjecting a solution containing their components to spray drying.

For the present invention preferred coffee creamers are whole milk or skimmed milk, natural or reconstituted from powder; milk derivatives a cream or coffee whitening agent comprising for instance lactic proteins, lactose and where appropriate vegetable fat.

It has been found that oligosacchrides which have the effect of diluting the protein of coffee creamers are particular useful in the beverage powder according to the invention. This effect of certain oligosacchrides is a means for reducing sediment and flocculation problems in the beverage. A preferred amount of oligosacchrides of this type are in the range of 12 to 30% by weight of solid matter of the beverage powder.

A preferred oligosacchride is oligofructose. It has been found to have particular protein diluting effects. In addition, although the oligofructose has no particular foam stabilising effect, it is perfectly soluble and may be added e.g. up to 25 % (related to dry matter) without changing the cup profile.

Advantageously, the oligofructose has a degree of polymerisation between 2 and 8. A suitable oligofructose may be obtained from Raftilose (Orafti). To minimise the impact on the cup profile, it is desirable that the oligofructose has a concentration of mono- and disaccharides in the range from about 3% to about 7%.

A positive side effect of the high amount of oligofructose is that the beverage of the invention may have a prebiotic effect. A prebiotic effect may possible be achieved at a daily dose of 6g oligofructose. This corresponds to a consumption of 2 to 4 cups of beverage a day.

An alternative oligosacchride, which may preferably be use, is lactose, which dilutes the protein of the milk in the same way.

Stabilisers may be used in order to reduce flocculation or in order to eliminate obvious feathering during the preparation of the coffee beverage. If the dispersion of the pre-flocculated protein and the fat particles is fine enough, the beverage is uniformly yellow brown. In the case of flocculation the beverage becomes darker because the particles float to the downside of the foam or to the bottom of the cup. The stabilisers reduce sedimentation. It is preferred that from

0.25% to 1.5% of stabilisers by weight is added to the ingredients. Preferably, a combination of phosphates and citrates is used. It has been found that this combination may be used without generation of soapy notes, which often is present when stabilisers are used.

The soluble coffee beverage powder may also include a soluble sweetener; natural or artificial. Suitable examples include sucrose, fructose, lactose, maltose, saccharin, cyclamates, acetosulfame, L-aspartyl based sweeteners such as aspartame, and the like, and mixtures of these. The amount of the sweetener used will vary depending upon the desired level of sweetness and the strength of the sweetener. However for sugar based sweeteners, the total amount of sweeteners is usually in the range of about 10% to about 25% by weight. The soluble sweetener may also be combined with bulking agents such as maltodextrins and polydextrose; particularly if an artificial sweetener is used. In this case, the total amount of sweetener and bulking agent is usually in the range of about 10% to about 25% by weight; artificial sweetener itself usually comprising less than 1% by weight. For a sweeter variety of the soluble beverage powder according to the invention, a more sweet type of oligofructose may also be selected. An oligofructose with up to 45 % mono- and disaccharides is particular suitable for this purpose. In a preferred version of the soluble coffee beverage it comprises from 15 to

25% of sugar.

The present invention provides a soluble coffee beverage, which closely assimilates the texture characteristics of an Italian espresso, namely a beverage with a fine crema. The reconstituted beverage provides a foamed upper surface of all of the ingredients, and in which substantially all of the foam is made up of bubble having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm. A bubble size in this range can barely be seen with the bare eye. The invention provides foam with a bubble size so small that substantially no single bubbles can be detected in the main part of the crema. This applies also to a cream of an Italian style Espresso.

It has been found that with a powder particles size from 100 to 200 m, and the gas bubbles in the powder are in the walls of bubbles, the bubble size after preparation is between 0.01 and 0.5 mm, if the pressure in the bubbles is below 5 bar. A more preferred foam bubble diameter is in the range of 0,1 to 0,4 mm, even more preferred in the range of 0,2 to 0,3 mm. It has been found that with small foam bubble diameters such as from 0,05 to 0,5 mm, a crema that substantially covers all of the surface of beverage in a thin layer and that it is sufficient stable that it remains on the surface of a beverage until the last sip of the beverage may be obtained.

The size of the foam bubbles may be measured and directly evaluated by means of a scanner. For example, by scanning the product foam and measuring the bubble size. A suitable scanner is e.g. HP Scanjet II CX or Agfa Snapscan.

Merely processing the roasted coffee beans to a coffee base concentrate as described above will result in the loss of substantially all coffee aroma. Therefore, it is preferred to specifically strip off and then collect the coffee aroma during processing. In this way, the coffee aroma is not lost. Processes for stripping off and collecting the coffee aroma are well known. Usually coffee aroma is stripped off at one or more stages; for example:- - using an inert gas or steam during, or immediately after, grinding of the coffee beans, and

- using steam to strip coffee aroma from the coffee extract during extraction. Alternatively, the fresh coffee grounds may be slurried in water or coffee extract and the coffee aroma stripped from the slurry. A suitable procedure is described in International patent application PCT/EP99/00747; the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

The coffee aroma may be captured using any suitable procedure. Ordinarily, the coffee aroma is captured by condensing from the carrier gas it in one or more condensers. Preferably more than one condenser is used; each succeeding condenser being operated at a lower temperature than the previous condenser. If necessary or desired, one of the condensers may be a cryogenic aroma condenser. A suitable cryogenic aroma condenser is described in US patent 5,182,926; the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. The captured coffee aroma may, if desired, be concentrated using a suitable technique such as partial condensation or rectification. The captured coffee aroma may be combined with a suitable carrier substrate such as coffee oil or emulsion containing coffee oil or other fats . Aqueous coffee aroma components and organic coffee aroma components are then separated. A suitable method for separating aqueous coffee aroma components from organic coffee aroma components are described in co-pending European patent application 99200241.0; the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

The processes for the production of the coffee extract and capture of the coffee aroma may be carried out under oxygen reduced or oxygen free conditions if desired. This may be accomplished as is known in the art; for example by carrying out the processes under a blanket of inert gas. Further, deoxygenated water may be used whenever water is necessary in the process.

The coffee aroma is preferably stored under oxygen reduced or oxygen free conditions and frozen. Similarly, the coffee base concentrate may be stored under oxygen reduced or oxygen free conditions. Further, if desired, oxygen scavengers may be added to the coffee aroma and/or coffee base concentrate. Suitable oxygen scavengers are described in European patent application 99200185.9; the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. The soluble beverage powder preferably contains about 0.05% to about 0.5% by weight of aqueous coffee aroma components; more preferably about 0.1% to about 0.3% by weight.

Preferably the aqueous coffee aroma components include highly volatile aqueous aroma components which condense at temperatures less than about 0°C.

The aqueous coffee aroma components are natural aroma components, which may be collected during the preparation of soluble coffee powder. This may be done by standard procedures for collecting coffee aroma components or by suitably modifying the standard procedures. Preferably, the natural aroma components include highly volatile aroma components. Highly volatile aroma components are those which condense at a temperature below about 0°C.

To collect highly volatile aroma components, the standard procedures usually entail flushing volatile aroma components from the coffee during processing using an inert carrier gas such as nitrogen. The aroma-laden carrier gas is then chilled to temperatures lower than about -40°C, and sometimes as low as about -195°C, to cause the aroma components to condense. The condensed aroma components are then collected. The condensed aroma components are then usually absorbed into an aroma substrate; usually an oil. Alternatively, the aromas may be absorbed into the aroma substrate during condensation. Suitable standard procedures are disclosed in, for example, US patents 3823241, 5030473, and 5222364 (the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference).

However, in the standard procedures described above, the aromatized aroma substrate obtained contains both aqueous and organic aroma components. In general, the aqueous components are then removed and often discarded because they are unstable and cause instability problems. This leaves the aroma substrate containing substantially only organic aroma components. However, instead of discarding these aqueous components, these components are collected in the form of an aqueous aroma solution. The aqueous aroma solution is then added to the other components making up the beverage prior to drying of the components. Sufficient aqueous aroma solution may be added such that the aqueous coffee aroma components comprise about 0.05% to about 0.5% by weight of the beverage powder; for example about 0.1% to about 1% in the concentrate before drying. The coffee creamer is conveniently produced by preparing a creamer solution containing the desired amount of protein, carbohydrate and lipids. For example, 30% skimmed milk, 40% lactose, 30% veg. oil or milk fat.. Water may be added when powdered raw material is used. The creamer solution is then heat treated at about 90°C to about 120°C for about 1 to about 500 seconds; for example at about 105°C to about 115°C for about 5 seconds to about 20 seconds. This may be carried out in a heat exchanger or by direct injection of steam, or a combination of both. The creamer solution is then concentrated by evaporation; usually to a total solids concentration of about 40% to about 60 % by weight. Suitable evaporators may be used.

A coffee solution may then be added to the concentrated creamer solution. The coffee solution may as discussed above be a concentrated coffee extract obtained from a coffee extraction process or may be prepared by dissolving coffee powder into a desired amount of water. The concentration of the coffee solids in the coffee solution is preferably similar to the concentration of the creamer solids in the concentrated creamer solution.

Further, the aqueous aroma as described above is added to the concentrated creamer solution, as well as the soluble filler, and stabilisers may preferably be added to the concentrated creamer solution.

The wet mix is then subjected to a pre-flocculation treatment. The pH of the concentrated mixture is, if necessary, standardised to about 5.5 to about 6.5; preferably about 6.1 to about 6.4. Also, if necessary, the calcium content of the mixture may be standardised to about 3 to about 5 mmol/1. The aroma substrate may then be mixed into the standardised mixture.

The mixture is then subjected to heat treatment at about 90°C to about 120°C for about 1 to about 500 seconds; for example at about 105°C to about 115°C for about 5 seconds to about 20 seconds. This may be carried out in a heat exchanger or by direct injection of steam, or a combination of both. This heat treatment causes controlled flocculation of proteins in the mixture.

It is also possible to carry out the pre-flocculation treatment on the concentrated creamer solution prior to addition of the coffee solution, but this is less preferred.

The wet mix is then subjected to homogenisation. This is preferably carried out in two stages. For example homogenisation may be carried out in a first stage at about 10 MPa to about 30 MPa and then in a second stage at about 2MPa to about 7MPa.

Subsequently, the wet mix may be gassed by injecting of a gas such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide into it. The gas is then dispersed within the mixture by means of a dispersing machine and the gassed mixture is then passed onto a homogeniser.

Preferred amount of gases are from about 10 to about 30 litres of gas for 10 kg of dry matter. More preferably from about 15 to about 25 litres of gas for 10 kg of dry matter.

The preferred gas is nitrogen as it has been found to give the best foaming effect of the powder.

The gassed and homogenised mixture is then spay-dried in a conventional manner. The spray-dried powder has a matrix comprising the soluble filler and the soluble coffee solids. The spray drying may conveniently take place in a spray-drying tower having for example a De-lavan spray nozzle. The pressure in front of the nozzle is preferably in the range from 45 to 70 bars and the temperature in the tower is preferably in the range from 75 to 95 °C. Subsequent to the drying, the powder may be cooled in a fluidized bed cooler and leaves a final sieve with a temperature of 40°C. It is preferred that the tapped specific gravity of the powder is in the range from about 150 to about 250g/l, more preferred is a tapped specific gravity between about 200 and about 220 g/1. Tapped specific gravity is referring to the gravity of the powder when compressed by vibrating the powder with 100 pushes of 10mm.

Specific examples are now described to further illustrate the invention.

Example 1 — Preparation of the soluble coffee beverage powder

Samples of the soluble coffee beverage powder according to the invention are prepared as follows: All figures are given as dry matter in the final product.

1) A coffee creamer is prepared by diluting 20% wt sugar, and 10 to 30% wt oligofructose in whole milk. 2) Adding stabilisers of 0.5 to 1.0% wt of sodium hydrogen phosphate and 0.1 to 0.5% wt sodium citrate are added to the coffee creamer in a watery solution.

3) Additional water is added to provide a total dry matter content of 16%

+/- 2% prior to evaporation and the first heat treatment.

4) Adding aqueous coffee aroma to the coffee creamer concentrate at 0.3 to 1% wt.

5) Providing a coffee liquor of 45 to 50% dry matter content, and mixing the coffee liquor with the creamer part in a ratio of 25 to 30%.

6) The mixture is subjected to a second heat treatment for pre-flocculation at lOO to llO°C.

7) The mixture is gassed with a 2 to 3 litres of nitrogen per kg of dry matter.

8) The samples are now optionally subjected to a homogenisation step at

100 to 110 bars, in a first stage, and a second stage of 50 to 60 bars, in a conventional homogeniser.

9) The mixture is fed to the spray dryer and spray-dried at 80 to 90°C in a spray drying tower with an output of about 700 kg per hour.

10) The sprayed coffee powder is cooled to about 40°C.

The tapped specific gravity of the final soluble coffee powder after cooling is between 200 and 250 g/L.

Example 2 — Preparation of the beverage

Samples of beverage are prepared as follows: 7 g of a soluble beverage coffee powder as prepared in Example 1 is put into cups and 80 ml hot water is added. A fine crema comes up with a marblelike coloured surface. The powder is partly or totally wetted depending on how the water is poured into the cups. After stirring the beverage, the surface is light yellow brown with concentric circles in different light shade of yellow brown. During preparation a full, strong aroma of fresh brew coffee comes up.

The crema is examined with the bare eye, and substantially no individual foam bubbles can be distinguished.

Example 3 — Evaluation of the beverage

A taste panel evaluates samples prepared in Example 1 and 2, and compare them with samples of commercial available soluble coffee products in the same concentration. These samples are prepared in the same concentration. The commercial available coffee products are without a crema.

1) Nescafe Gold from Germany: 2 g mixed with 70 ml hot water and 10 g whole UHT milk. 2) Nescafe au Lait: 7 g mixed with 80 ml hot water.

The samples following examples 1 and 2 are described as less bitter and 1) and more aromatic than 2). The overall impression of the samples following example 1 and 2 is that it is like fresh brew without any aggressive notes.

Claims (16)

Claims

1. A soluble coffee beverage powder, which, upon the addition of water, is forming a coffee beverage having a foamed upper surface, the soluble coffee beverage powder is characterised by a soluble gas containing matrix comprising between 10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix, from about 10% to about 35 % pre-flocculated creamer by weight, from about 12% to about 30% oligosacchrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer by weight, and that the soluble beverage powder upon reconstituting provides a foamed upper surface based upon all of the ingredients, and in which the foamed upper layer substantially all of the foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm.

2. A soluble beverage powder according to claim 1, the soluble gas containing matrix comprising between 25% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix.

3. A soluble beverage powder according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a soluble gas containing matrix comprises from about 10% to about 25% of a soluble sweetener by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix.

4. A soluble beverage powder according to any of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the gas-containing matrix comprises aqueous based aroma.

5. A soluble beverage powder according to any of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the soluble gas containing matrix is a dried wet mix of the ingredients.

6. A soluble beverage powder according to any of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the soluble gas-containing matrix is made from a homogenised dried wet mix of the ingredients.

7. A soluble beverage powder according to any of the claims 1 to 6, wherein the gas containing matrix comprises from about 20% to about 30% of pre- flocculated creamer.

8. A soluble beverage powder according to any of the claims 1 to 7, wherein the gas containing matrix comprises stabilisers.

9. A soluble beverage powder according to any of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the oligosacchrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer is oligofructose.

10. A soluble beverage powder according to claim 9, wherein the oligofructose has a concentration of mono- and disacchrides in the range from about 3% to about 7%o.

11. A soluble beverage powder according to any of the claims 9 and 10, wherein the gas containing matrix comprises from about 15 % to about 25% oligofructose.

12. A soluble beverage powder according to any of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the oligosacchrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer is lactose.

13. A process for providing a soluble coffee beverage powder, which, upon the addition of water, is forming a coffee beverage having a foamed upper surface, the process is characterised by providing between 10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix, from about 10% to about 35 % pre-flocculated creamer by weight, and from about 12% to about 30% oligosacchrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer by weight, mixing the ingredients to a wet mix with a liquid, incorporating gas into the mixture, and drying the wet mix to a soluble beverage powder comprising a gas- containing matrix, which soluble beverage powder upon reconstituting provides a foamed upper surface based upon all of the ingredients, and in which the foamed upper layer substantially all of the foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm.

14. A process according to claim 13, wherein the ingredients in the wet mix is gassed with from 1 to 3 litres of gas per kg of dry matter.

15. A process according to either of claim 13 or 14, wherein the gassed wet mix is homogenised prior to being dried.

16. A process according to any of claim 13 to 15, wherein the soluble coffee is provided in the form of a coffee concentrate with 10% to 35% dry matter by weight of the concentrate.