GB2372735A

GB2372735A - Beverage package

Info

Publication number: GB2372735A
Application number: GB0105038A
Authority: GB
Inventors: George Demetriou; Karen Jayne Demetriou
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-03-01
Filing date: 2001-03-01
Publication date: 2002-09-04
Also published as: GB0105038D0

Abstract

A beverage package comprises a first permeable container 1 holding dried beverage 2 such as tea or coffee, and a second permeable container 3 holding a dry additive such as dried milk, which is combined with the first container 1. The containers 1 and 2 may be formed from heat seal tea bag paper and container 1 may be a three dimensional pyramid shape formed by transverse seams 4a and 4b. The container 3 may be provided within the container 1, or attached to the outside of container 1 by a sealed seam (fig 2, 5), that may also have perforations (fig 2, 6). The dried beverage material may be provided by leaf tea, ground coffee or dried instant coffee, and the additive may be provided by dried milk, whitening and or sugar.

Description

Beverage Package

The present invention relates to beverage packages, in particular for tea and coffee, which include additives such as dry milk and/or sugar which may be required in the prepared drink.

The preparation of hot drinks such as tea and coffee from infusion packages and particularly bags, is well known. These bags are water permeable and contain dried tea or ground coffee, which when immersed in boiling water, infuse, to form the desired drink. Individual bags for single cups are also produced, and these may be provided with a string attached, to allow easy removal of the bag from the cup following infusion.

Subsequently milk, dried milk or whitening and/or sugar is added as required. However, when individuals live alone, supplies of fresh milk etc. are not always readily available.

It has been suggested (GB-A-2218685) that dry milk might be incorporated into a tea bag with dry tea. However, when two different materials of this type are kept in intimate admixture, variation in their properties such as hydrophilicity, might result in problems overtime. Therefore such a product might be expected to have a limited shelf life, and indeed, this idea has not been adopted.

The applicants have found a convenient way in which beverage materials can be delivered in a substantially"ready to use" fashion.

According to the present invention there is provided a beverage package comprising a first permeable container holding a dried beverage material, and a second permeable container holding a dry additive for said beverage, the first and second containers being combined together to form a single package.

In use, the single package is placed in a cup or other suitable receptacle such as a tea or coffee pot. When hot or boiling water is applied in the usual way, the dried beverage material in the first container will give rise to the drink (either by infusion or by dissolution). At the same time, hot water will reach the dry additive which becomes hydrated or dissolved within the beverage. After a period of time sufficient to allow the contents of the package to infuse or dissolve as appropriate, the beverage is either poured out of the pot or the package is removed from the cup.

The dried beverage material is suitably dry leaf tea or ground coffee, which infuses to produce the desired beverage. However, it may also comprise a soluble material such as instant coffee or dried instant tea.

The dry additive may be any desired additive for such beverages.

In general, they will be selected from dry milk or whitening and/or sugar, and preferably will comprise dry milk or whitening.

The permeable containers are suitably made of conventional sheet material used to make tea bags, such as the"heat seal"tea bag paper. They may be of any shape or design, such as round or square planar bags or they may have a 3-dimensional structure such as folded pouches, or tetrahedral or pyramidal shapes, for example as described in British Patent Application No. 2087350.

In a particular embodiment, the second permeable container is placed inside the first permeable container. This will ensure that the contents of the first and second containers do not become intimately admixed and so give rise to storage problems.

However, they will be placed together in the cup or pot for use.

In this embodiment, the second container and contents will take up space within the first container, which may be required for

infusion where the beverage material is for example leaf tea or ground coffee. This may be minimised by keeping the size of the second container as small as possible, such that it is substantially filled with additive. However, once hot water is added, the additive within the second container will rapidly dissolve, so that the second container will collapse, increasing the available space within the first container.

In an alternative embodiment, the second container is attached to the outside of the first container. For example, the first and second containers may have a common side wall, such that the second container is formed by a further single layer of permeable material fixed to a wall of the first container, conveniently around the edges.

However in order to maintain flexibility both of the overall package and the method of use, the second container may suitably be attached along an edge portion of the first container. In use the package may be folded along the attachment edge to minimise the size to add it to a small cup etc. Furthermore, if desired, the edge may be perforated so that the additive container may be removed, where for example, tea or coffee without milk is required.

When multiple additives such as both milk or whitening and sugar is required, these may be mixed together in the second container, but preferably one of these is provided in a third permeable container which is also part of the single package.

The third container suitably has a similar relationship to the first container as the second container (i. e. it is either contained within or attached thereto).

The amounts of dried beverage material and additive will vary depending upon the nature of the materials, the tastes of the target end-users, whether the packages are intended for the preparation of single or multiple drinks etc. Generally

speaking however, when the dried material is leaf tea or coffee, each first container will hold from 1-6grams, preferably from 2 5 grams and suitably around 3 grams of material.

Where the additive in the second container is dry milk or whitening, the weight ratio of dried beverage material to dry milk or whitening is suitably in the range of from 3: 1 to 1: 3 and preferably about 1: 1.

Strings may be attached to the packages to allow easy removal from the cup or pot if required.

Packages of the invention may be prepared using conventional methods, depending upon the arrangement of the package. For example, where the second container is held within the first container, the second container is preferably prepared and filled first, for example by heat sealing permeable sheet material around the desired additive. Thereafter, the first container is prepared around the second container.

Where the first and second containers are adjoining, they may be formed and then filled in subsequent filling operations, or they may be filled at the same time from adjacent feeders of dried beverage material and additive.

The invention will now be particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates a first embodiment of a beverage package of the invention; Figure 2 illustrates a second embodiment of a beverage package of the invention; and Figure 3 is a side view of a third embodiment of a beverage package of the invention.

In the first embodiment, a first container (1) of heat seal tea bag paper has a three dimensional shape pyramidal shape formed by transverse seams (4a, 4b). Within the container (1), is a dried beverage material (2) which is suitably leaf tea. In addition, a second container (3) of heat seal tea bag paper, substantially filled with additive such as dried milk, is also provided within the first container (1).

When boiling water is added to the package of Figure 1, a white tea beverage will be produced.

The embodiment of Figure 2 is one in which the second container (3) filled with additive is provided attached along a side edge of the first container (1) holding the dried beverage material (2). The package has a sealed seam (5) around the entire edge region, and also intermediate the first container (1) and the second container (3). A perforation 6 is provided in the seam 5 intermediate the first container (1) and second container (3) to allow easy removal of the second container should additive not be required on occasion. However, generally, the entire package will be immersed in hot water to provide a complete beverage.

In the embodiment of Figure 3, the first container (1) for dried beverage material (2) and second container (3) filled with additive share a common wall (7) and are formed by a sealed seam (8) surrounding them entirely.

Packages and in particular tea bags of the invention are easy to use, and do not require a separate supply of perishable additives such as milk, to be available. In addition, they have a good shelf life. If desired, they may be adapted for use in vending machines.

Claims

1. A beverage package comprising a first permeable container holding a dried beverage material, and a second permeable container holding a dry additive for said beverage, the first and second containers being combined together to form a single package.

2. A beverage package according to claim 1 wherein the dried beverage material is leaf tea, ground coffee, instant coffee or dried instant tea.

3. A beverage package according to claim 2 wherein the dried beverage material is leaf tea.

4. A beverage package according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the dry additive is dry milk or whitening and/or sugar.

5. A beverage package according to claim 4 wherein the dry additive is dry milk or whitening.

6. A beverage package according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second permeable container is contained within the first permeable container.

7. A beverage package according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the second container is attached to the outside of the first container.

8. A beverage package according to claim 7 wherein the first and second containers may have a common side wall.

9. A beverage package according to claim 7 wherein the second container is attached along an edge portion of the first

container. In use the package may be folded along the attachment edge to minimise the size

10. A beverage package according to claim 9 wherein the said edge is perforated to allow removal or the second container.

11. A beverage package according to any one of the preceding claims which comprises a third permeable container which holds a second additive.

12. A beverage package according to claim 11 wherein the second additive is sugar.

13. A method for preparing a beverage, said method comprising immersing a beverage package according to any one of the preceding claims in hot water and allowing the contents to infuse and/or dissolve.

14. A beverage package substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.