NL1041544B1

NL1041544B1 - Coffee brewing means for pre-filled coffee-pods

Info

Publication number: NL1041544B1
Application number: NL1041544A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Rudolf Enserink Msc Anton
Original assignee: Enserinkdesign Com
Priority date: 2015-10-22
Filing date: 2015-10-22
Publication date: 2017-05-11

Abstract

Coffee brewing means for pre-filled coffee-pods to be used inside a hot water water filled drinking cup, with the characteristic that the coffee-pod is pressed on at least one face by a pod pressing member of sufficient size to release coffee aromas. In different embodiments such means can incorporate one pressing member to squeeze the coffee pod against the inside wall of a drinking cup, which effectively turns a portion of that inside wall in to a second pressing member, or two opposing pressing members to squeeze the coffee pod between them. Brewing can be promoted by deforming of the coffee pod like a bellows with a four hinges scissor mechanism, or by applying rolling pressure with a pressing member with adequate double curvature. Ridges, grooves, slots and/or holes and patterns thereof can be applied to the pressing members to promote absorption and expelling of water through the coffee pod.

Description

Coffee brewing means for pre-filled coffee-pods Field of the invention

The present invention relates to brewing coffee from ground coffee which is portion-packaged in filtration material, also known as coffee-pods.

More particularly, the invention relates to brewing coffee using minimal accessories and materials to extend the joy of drinking coffee to circumstances without electric power or in between activities where storage and packing space is limited, for instance outdoor activities like traveling, camping or sailing, as long as water can be heated.

Description of related art

Coffee extraction, or brewing, can be done in many ways, varying from using complex and heavy barista espresso machines to simple drip-filters. A simple brewing method is using a funnel shaped drip filter, in which ground coffee is mixed with hot water which extracts the aromatic ingredients from the ground coffee. The hot water is poured from a kettle or electric water boiler and sinks through the filter as coffee into a pot or cup, leaving the ground coffee inside the filter as waste. Although good tasting coffee can be made this way, preparing and filling the filter, pouring the hot water and cleaning afterward can be a lot of hassle, especially when it is only for one cup. In addition, pouring hot water can be dangerous considering that the ideal water temperature for coffee extraction is said to be between 80 and 100°C.

Another way of making a single serve of coffee is by using a machine that applies portion-packaged coffee pods or pods, such as Keurig's K-cup, Tassimo, Nespresso and Senseo [patent citations needed]. Although tasteful coffee can be extracted quickly and easily, still a machine is needed. Added to that, machines are limited in the processing finesse that may be needed to get the best tasting coffee from the pod. Depending on the system, a lot of packaging material is disposed along with the coffee-grounds. The Senseo pod in that sense is reasonably low on waste material, and is fully bio-degradable, as it is made from two circular patches of filtration paper that are bonded together around their perimeter, with around 7,5grams of coffee grounds inside. The above mentioned machines are not exactly portable. Portable coffee makers do exist, such as the Hand-Presso [patent citation needed] which allows coffee brewing by building up pressure with a hand pump, the MyPressi Twist which is powered by a disposable gas-capsule [patent citation needed], and lever operated presses such as the ROK [patent citation needed]. Each of these require ground coffee and hot water, and considerable preparation and cleaning efforts.

Different coffee extracting methods can be classified as pressurized and atmospheric, where pressurized methods are regarded as more luxurious and better tasting. This is obviously open to discussion, arguably a really good tasting cup can be extracted without pressure. Going deeper in to the subject of coffee extraction we find that some aromas dilute quicker in hot water than others, for instance caffeine takes longer to dilute, resulting in a higher caffeine content in drip filter coffee than in espresso coffee due to their difference in processing time. Grounding coffee beans fine or coarse obviously affects the extraction process, fine ground is usually found in espresso processing whereas drip-filter ground is much coarser.

The Senseo system is in fact a hybrid between espresso and drip filter, as the water pressure of around 15MPa in a Senseo machine is notably lower than the 150MPa pressure often used in espresso systems. In the Senseo machine, the pressure is merely there to transport hot water through the ground coffee inside the pod. Due to this, Senseo ground is typically slightly finer than drip-filter ground.

Having a foamy layer of an emulsion of coffee-oils and water, also known as crema, floating on the coffee is considered as a sign of good coffee extraction, as the oils are believed to contain important aromas. The above mentioned pressure is applied to both the ground and the water passing through to improve oil extraction by mechanically rubbing the coffee grounds against one another.

The Senseo pods have their grounds contained in a 062mm pocket. Another pod standard, with a 040mm grounds pocket that fits some domestic espresso machines exists as well.

Any coffee machine will require maintenance, especially descaling is considered important to both extend the machine life and to keep the coffee tasting good.

Tea extraction is very different from coffee extraction as tea aromas tend to dissolve quickly in hot water. This is said to be the main reason behind the popularity of disposable tea-bags, and the lack of complex tea making equipment in households. Unlike coffee, for making a serve of tea just a tea bag, a cup and some hot water is needed.

In order to promote extraction of tea from tea bags, numerous products to promote extraction of tea from tea bags, or coffee from coffee bags, have been designed and made available to the public, such as the squeezers from US 5335591A (Josef Pozar, 1994), GB 24116060A (Stephen Donne, 2005), US 2887948A (Kramer&Dion, 1957), US 2484461A (Perry, 1948). These designs could be applied to a limited extend to coffee pods too, as repeated squeezing and releasing of a coffee pod will only help circulation of hot water in the pod to a limited extend. The coffee grounds are quite fine, and tend to stick together once they have been compressed once, forming hard to penetrate press-cake. The required flow rate needed for appropriate extraction will therefore not be met. EP 0448498A1 (Mediterraneenne Des Cafés , 1991) presents another solution for the issue of having insufficient flow inside a coffee pod, by applying a spring element inside the coffee pod which could be manipulated with a spoon or similar device. Unless spring loaded coffee pods will be made available to the market, this is not to be regarded to be a very practical solution. EP 0448498A1 also mentions a spoon having holes, to promote water flow during the repeated pressing on the coffee pod, if an atmospheric the coffee making process is aspired.

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Summary of the invention

The present invention provides a method for coffee extraction almost similar to using a tea bag. By using portion packaged ground coffee, a cup, hot water and a means according to the invention, a very good tasting cup of coffee can be extracted without use of a machine.

By studying related art, one may understand that simply dipping a Senseo pod in hot water will not provide the level of extraction needed for a good cup of coffee. Hot water will need to be sufficiently transported through the ground, and to promote the extraction of some of the aromas only found in pressurized extractions, some mechanical movement like compressing or rubbing of the grounds is needed.

Means according to the invention can be operated by hand, and perform adequate brewing inside the same coffee cup the coffee will be drank from.

The brewing process with means according to the invention is described as follows:

The coffee pod and the hot water are brought together inside the drinking cup. Preferably, the coffee pod is allowed to wet for about a half minute. Then, a means according to the invention is applied to expel water from the coffee pod, and to apply mechanical pressure to the ground inside the coffee pod. The application of pressure can be done by squeezing the coffee pod one or multiple times, or by rubbing the pod in such a way the ground particles are pressed and moved against each other. Obviously, both pressurizing techniques can be used alternately.

Below some embodiments of the present invention are described. For good understanding, when a coffee cup is mentioned, it's shape can be described as a hollow rotational body with a vertical axis, which is open at the top circular face. Such a cup can be cylindrical in case the walls are vertical, or conical if the walls are angled relative to the rotation axis, or with double curvature in case the rotational section is arched or curved.

Pressing member in the below embodiments are considered to be sufficiently sized when their circumference approximates that of a coffee pod face by less than 5mm. A wet 062mm pod has a face of about 058mm when pressed flat, so a pressing member sized about 048mm, or about 80% of the pod face, accordingly suffices.

In preferred embodiment of the invention, a first pod pressing member is present. In this embodiment, a portion of the vertical inside wall of the cup is used as second pod pressing member. The first pod pressing member is therefore curved parallel with the cup inside wall with a radius smaller than the inside radius of the cup by the thickness of a flattened coffee pod, to allow for even pressure across the coffee pod when it's positioned between the pressing members. The pod pressing member can incorporate patterns of grooves, holes or slots to promote circulation of water in the coffee pod. An upward extending handle is attached to allow easy operation of the pressing member.

Another embodiment of the invention is similar to the above mentioned single pressing member embodiment, with the addition of a second curvature on the pod pressing member, with an axis perpendicular to the first curvature. This second curvature allows for alternating rolling line pressure similar to a rocking motion by moving the handle towards and away from the rotational axis of the cup. This rocking motion promotes the circulation of water through the coffee pod, and adds a rubbing motion to the coffee grounds to promote aroma extraction, specifically of the oils that create the crema.

This particular embodiment of the invention benefits from a slot pattern parallel to said second curvature, as water is allowed to move in an out of the pod by the rocking motion, which further promotes the aroma extraction.

Due to the double curvature, this embodiment of the invention allows using the means as something between a spoon and a sieve to take the coffee pod out of the coffee cup after brewing.

Thus, the present invention provides means to brew coffee inside a cup with a minimum of accessories and disposables, and without much preparation and cleaning up when compared to the present art. While the brewing process is not automated, doing some hand work allows for brewing a cup of coffee that is either strong or weak to suit the coffee drinkers preferences. Different movement patterns can be applied to bring out the best aroma extraction, and it can be said that coffee brewed with means according to the invention can taste better than when prepared with a Senseo or Senseo compatible machine.

Obviously, to achieve the best results, attention should be paid to the water amount and temperature, the freshness of the coffee pod as these tend to turn stale in a matter of weeks, and the movement patterns applied with the means according to the present invention. For making larger mugs of coffee, using two coffee pods can be helpful as the amount of coffee inside the Senseo pods is just enough to brew about lOcl of coffee.

On materialization, metal and plastic are both candidates for making the means according to the present invention. A suitable metal would be stainless steel, either processed as sheet metal or as a wire construction, whereas amongst suitable plastics are Polypropylene, Polyamid and Polyoximethylene, whether or not fiber reinforced, as long as they are food grade certified. Plastics have good thermal insulation properties which helps keeping the coffee hot, whereas a metal version would have a significantly lower volume.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

Figure 1 depicts a means according to the invention with a single pod pressing member with double curvature and slots, attached to a handle.

Figure 2 depicts the means from figure 4 during brewing in a view from above.

Description Of A Means According To The Invention

In figure 4 depicts a means according to the invention incorporating a pod pressing member 1 which has transverse curvature 2 and longitudinal curvature 3, and is attached to a handle 4. Further, the pod pressing member 1 incorporates a pattern of longitudinal slots 5.

Figure 5 depicts the means from figure 4 partially inside a hot water filled coffee cup 6 together with a coffee pod 7. Holding the handle in such a way the coffee pod 7 is pressed against the inside vertical wall of the cup results in hot water being expelled from the coffee pod 7, while rocking the handle along arrow A applies rolling line pressure on the coffee pod 7, which alternately absorbs and expels hot water. The alternating pressure on the coffee grounds inside coffee pod 7 assists in breaking up the grounds and extracting aromas and oils.

Claims

A coffee-making agent for pre-filled coffee pads to be used within a hot water-filled drinking cup, characterized in that the coffee pad is pressed on at least one side by a first pressing member with an area of at least 80% of that of a side of a coffee pad, and characterized in that said first pressure member is connected to a handle protruding from the drinking cup, and characterized in that the first pressure member is double curved with one curve concentrically and parallel to the inside of the drinking cup and another curve in a plane axially oriented with respect to the cup in order to exert rolling line pressure against the inner wall of the cup when the handle is moved in a plane axially oriented relative to the cup, and a second pressure member is formed by the inner wall of a cup drinking cup.

The preparation according to claim 1, characterized in that the first pressure member is provided with shape details to stimulate the absorption and flow of hot water through the coffee pad as well as the breaking of the coffee ground to release more aromas and oils, such shape details being ridges, grooves, slots and / or holes and patterns thereof.