JPS6113775B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to coffee products and methods for their production. More particularly, the present invention relates to a product produced by a method of producing extremely fine ground particles of roasted coffee together with soluble coffee into agglomerated granules (hereinafter referred to as agglomerates).

In the past, there has often been interest in mixing finely ground roasted coffee with soluble coffee in various proportions, usually less than 15% by weight. Such mixtures have the advantage of incorporating aroma and flavor components of roasted coffee that are not readily available in the soluble coffee fraction, especially when made by conventional spray drying methods. Although such mixtures have often been commercially available, mixtures of soluble coffee powder and roasted ground particles have poor fluidity and are difficult to remove with a spoon, even when mixed uniformly. Moreover, such products tend to settle in milk and/or water-based beverages, producing undesirably large amounts of sediment with consumer rejection. However, like in 100% roasted and ground coffee that you can make at home,
A certain amount of precipitate is accepted by consumers and in fact
The intra-cup opacity of such products is considered desirable.

It has been found that if soluble coffee and finely ground roasted coffee are combined as an agglomerate, for example by known agglomeration methods, it is possible to obtain a coffee product that is liked and accepted by man. This product is highly fluid and retains substantially all of the original aroma components of the roasted and ground coffee, which provides an improvement in the flavor of the coffee product.

The invention therefore consists in providing a coffee product consisting of soluble coffee particles and finely ground roasted coffee. The finely ground roasted coffee has an amount of less than 20% by weight based on the total weight of the two components, and the particle size is such that 90% by weight of the ground coffee passes through a 75 micron mesh. Preferably, the particle size of the finely ground coffee is less than 50 microns, more preferably such that 90% of the coffee passes through a 25 micron mesh. Additionally, it is optimal for virtually all coffee to have a particle size of 5 to 20 microns. Using finely ground roasted coffee having a particle size in the smallest part of the particle size range specified above will result in minimal sedimentation when agglomerates made from such coffee components are made into a beverage.

Dry grinding of roasted coffee beans to a relatively coarse grind is known in the coffee industry. Various researchers have described finely grinding roasted coffee beans while preserving their aroma properties by using a single-stage cold grinding technique. in this way,
For example, roasted coffee beans are precooled to a temperature below 10° C. before grinding, as described in US Pat. No. 3,261,689.

Alternatively, see Food Engineering, May 1962, 62 and 63.
It was proposed to supply liquid nitrogen into the grinding mill during the grinding of roasted coffee beans as described on p. Other methods for grinding roasted coffee beans are described in British Patents 1424264 and 1476854. However, these methods only provide relatively fine grinding and do not generally provide the most preferred average particle size of 20 microns or less. US patent
Only 50% of the ground coffee from 3261689 is passed through the US standard 200 mesh screen (i.e.
74 microns), and in British Patent No. 1476854, ground coffee
Not more subtle. It will be seen that a common method in prior patents is to suspend the milled product in liquid coffee extract and spray dry it. This spray drying process necessarily results in the loss of volatile components and also produces products with certain flowability problems.

The previous proposals mentioned above do not provide a sufficiently fine roasted coffee product and also suggest methods of producing a product that is mixed with conventional soluble coffee in such a way as to give a free-flowing and flavorful product. I haven't.

For the practice of the present invention, it is preferred that the roasted coffee beans are pulverized at temperatures below 0°C, preferably -45°C.
It is carried out by a grinding method that includes the step of pre-cooling the roasted coffee beans to below 0.degree. C. and also using air fractionation of the finely ground roasted coffee using chilled air in the fractionation step. The precooling is preferably carried out with liquid nitrogen, so that the cooled gas in the fractionation stage also includes a mixture of nitrogen and air. Fine grinding of roasted coffee beans can be carried out using an impact mill equipped with an air separation device.
With this mill, only ground coffee of the desired particle size is discharged as product from the mill. However, this air separation device can be external to the mill, provided that the coarse particulate fraction is returned to the mill. Other means of providing the desired particle size of finely ground roasted coffee with minimal acceptable loss of volatile components may also be used. Although not preferred, grinding methods that do not use liquid cryogens can also be used to provide finely ground coffee.

According to the invention, finely ground coffee is formed into an agglomerate with soluble coffee, which soluble coffee preferably has an average particle size of 50 microns or less. The two coffee components are mixed into a substantially homogeneous mixture and then agglomerated to form the agglomerates of the present invention. Although aggregation can be carried out in a number of ways, it is preferably carried out as described in GB 1224807. This British specification describes the pre-grinding of soluble coffee, which is also the preferred method in the present invention.

The agglomerates according to the invention may contain from 5 to 20% by weight, preferably from 8 to 12% by weight, of roasted, finely ground coffee. If desired, a portion of the inherent coffee oil can be removed from the finely ground roasted coffee before the production of the agglomerates of the invention and before the grinding step. Techniques for doing this are known to those skilled in the art.

Preferably, the coffee product agglomerates of the present invention have an average particle size of 850 microns or more, more preferably 1200 to 2400 microns.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. Consisting of soluble coffee particles and finely ground roasted coffee, the finely ground roasted coffee being present in an amount of 2 to 20% by weight of the total weight of the two components. and having a particle size such that 90% by weight of the ground coffee passes through a 75 micron mesh. 2. The coffee product of claim 1, wherein the finely ground roasted coffee has a particle size of 50 microns or less. 3. The coffee product of claim 2, wherein the finely ground roasted coffee has a particle size such that 90% by weight of the ground coffee passes through a 25 micron mesh. 4. A coffee product according to claim 3, characterized in that the finely ground roasted coffee has a particle size such that substantially all particles are between 5 and 20 microns. 5. A coffee product according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the roasted coffee beans are finely ground in such a way as to protect the flavor characteristics of the coffee. 6. The coffee product according to claim 5, characterized in that the roasted coffee beans are pre-cooled to a temperature of -45°C or less before grinding. 7. The coffee product according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that finely ground roasted coffee having a desired particle size is sorted by air separation means. 8. said finely ground roasted coffee is prepared by the use of an impact mill equipped with air separation means;
7. A coffee product according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the mill leaves the mill as product only ground coffee having the desired particle size. 9 Aggregates consisting of soluble coffee particles and finely ground roasted coffee are described in British Patent No. 1224807.
A coffee product according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it is made by using the method described in the specification. 10. A coffee product according to any of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the agglomerate contains 8 to 12% by weight of finely ground roasted coffee. 11. A coffee product according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that at least 65% by weight of the agglomerates have an average particle size of at least 850 microns. 12. The coffee product of claim 11, wherein the agglomerates have an average particle size of 850 microns or more. 13 Average particle size of aggregates is 1200 to 2400
13. Coffee product according to claim 12, characterized in that it is micron.