Beverage ingredient container, method of manufacture and method of use thereof

Abstract

The present invention provides a container insertable into a beverage machine, the container comprising a tablet of compacted beverage ingredient powder or pellets.

Description

[0001] This invention is a divisional application with an application date of August 7, 2020, application number 202080057614.7, and invention name “Beverage ingredient container, manufacturing method and use method thereof”. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a container insertable into a beverage machine comprising a compacted beverage ingredient tablet, a method of making the same and a method of preparing a beverage using the same. Background Art

[0003] When preparing beverages from powdered ingredients, it is known in the art that powder solubility can be a problem, resulting in a beverage with a grainy texture or weak concentration and undesirable remaining wet powder residues. The technician has many options when faced with the problem of powder solubility, including, for example, changing the type or blend of solvents, increasing the temperature or volume of the solvent, introducing shear, or increasing the powder-solvent contact time. Some of these options have limited use in certain cases; for example, in applications containing milk powder, the effect of increasing temperature can reduce solubility. It is also known that the physical properties of the powder can have a significant effect on its solubility. Powders with the same chemical structure but different physical properties such as density, particle size, particle size distribution or porosity, for example, can have significantly different solubility. In some applications, such as containers for beverage preparation machines, various levers in these levers known to adjust solubility are limited / limited or unavailable.

[0004] Many beverage preparation systems are known in the art. These systems typically include a beverage preparation machine and a beverage ingredient container used in conjunction with the beverage preparation machine. The beverage ingredient container may be in the form of a pouch, a soft pad, a semi-rigid pad, a rigid pad, a capsule, a plastic or aluminum tray and a pod, and may contain extractable and / or soluble beverage ingredients. The beverage preparation machine typically includes a water source, a heat source and a pump, which are used to deliver hot water through the beverage ingredient container and into the cup.

[0005] Typically, when preparing a beverage, a consumer inserts a beverage ingredient container into a beverage preparation machine.

[0006] A typical beverage preparation machine is configured to deliver a predetermined volume and / or flow rate of water to a beverage ingredient container in use in order to dissolve, suspend and / or extract some or all of the beverage ingredients contained therein and then dispense a beverage of desired volume and solids content. Typically, the amount of water delivered to the beverage ingredient container is determined by timed activation of a water pump or by a set threshold on a flow meter, in either case, the volume of water passing through the beverage ingredient container is limited.

[0007] In known systems, when the beverage ingredients contained in the beverage ingredient container are soluble, once the beverage preparation machine has distributed the required volume of water, there is usually a residual amount of beverage ingredients in the beverage ingredient container. This usually results in the beverage containing a beverage ingredient whose dissolved amount is less than the required amount, and / or once the beverage is prepared, the discarded beverage ingredients will remain in the beverage ingredient container. A known method to overcome this problem is to add excess beverage ingredients to the beverage ingredient container to ensure that even if there are residues, the required volume of water will dissolve enough beverage ingredients, and there are enough beverage ingredients in the prepared beverage. This improves the solid content of the beverage, but increases the amount of discarded beverage ingredients left in the beverage ingredient container, and causes the significant difficulty of assembling excess beverage ingredients into a container of a limited size for each system. In addition, this effect has a practical upper limit. Above a threshold, adding more beverage ingredient powder has no effect on the solid content of the beverage produced, or can even reduce the solubility of bulk ingredients by limiting the head space available for mixing in the container.

[0008] Furthermore, it is known that the amount of residue in a given beverage ingredient container may increase after the beverage ingredients have been extracted, dissolved or suspended if the beverage ingredient container is stored incorrectly or for several months prior to use.

[0009] It would be advantageous to provide a beverage ingredient in a form that can withstand the manufacturing methods required to fill a beverage ingredient container without significantly breaking up or disintegrating into significant amounts of fine particles ("fines").

[0010] It is also known in the art to manipulate the physical properties of beverage ingredients in order to influence their solubility, however, known solutions to increase solubility all have some other properties that are detrimental to the desired properties in the beverage preparation system. For example, known agglomeration techniques increase the solubility of beverage powders, which may therefore have an effect on reducing residues within beverage ingredient containers; however, the same known agglomerated beverage ingredient powders have a reduced density, and therefore a sufficient mass of beverage ingredients cannot be easily added to a relatively small volume of beverage ingredient containers in order to form a beverage of the desired volume and solids content. In addition, such known agglomerated powders may also be incompatible with the methods involved in the manufacture of beverage ingredient containers, such that their increased friability causes the agglomerated powders to break during manufacture and handling; thereby increasing fine particles and therefore reducing solubility; which in turn generates more dust and hinders container sealing.

[0011] High levels of fines (>15%) and low porosity can also generate a lot of dust in the filling line, leading to frequent cleaning of the line, thereby reducing efficiency.

[0012] Additionally, known beverage ingredient powders may lose solubility during the shelf life of a commercial product, and thus, residues may increase above acceptable levels over a reasonable storage period of several months.

[0013] Such disadvantages are known to be associated in particular with beverage ingredients which contain a certain amount of fat.

[0014] Known powders include those described in the following documents: WO2016 / 014503; WO2011 / 063322; WO2011 / 039027; WO2009 / 103592; WO2004 / 064585. Each of these documents has one or more of the above-mentioned disadvantages, such as low porosity, high fine particle percentage, suboptimal particle size, etc. In addition, it is known that the properties of the fluid used to dissolve or otherwise transport the beverage ingredients to the prepared beverage may affect the amount of the beverage ingredients in the prepared beverage. Parameters of the fluid such as, but not limited to, temperature, pressure, flow rate and / or aeration can be adjusted by adjusting the settings and / or components of the beverage preparation machine. Specifically, the beverage powder solubility of the beverage preparation machine operated at a relatively low fluid pressure (i.e., those below about 5 bar-10 bar) is poorer than the beverage powder solubility of the beverage preparation machine operated at a higher pressure (i.e., those above about 10 bar).

[0015] It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to form an optimal combination of beverage ingredient properties paired with optimal fluid properties provided by a beverage preparation machine in order to maximize the amount of beverage ingredient delivered to the prepared beverage by the fluid. It is another object of embodiments of the present invention to achieve this result in a beverage preparation machine that provides a range of beverage ingredients and / or beverage ingredient containers for a range of beverages to choose from.

[0016] It would be advantageous to provide a beverage ingredient container containing a soluble beverage ingredient which produces less residue after use in a beverage preparation machine.

[0017] It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to increase the solubility of a beverage ingredient within the confines of a beverage ingredient container. Additionally, it is an object of embodiments of the present invention to increase the amount of beverage ingredient powder that can be added to a given volume of a beverage ingredient container and / or to reduce the volume or one or more dimensions of the beverage ingredient container while maintaining the same amount of beverage ingredient container it contains.

[0018] It would also be advantageous to provide a fat-containing beverage ingredient for use in a beverage container of the type described herein which reduces problems associated with storage, shelf life, residue generation and lack of solubility.

[0019] It is therefore an object of embodiments of the present invention to mitigate or reduce the disadvantages presented by the prior art. Summary of the invention

[0020] According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a container insertable into a beverage machine comprising a tablet of compacted beverage ingredient powder or granules.

[0021] By "compacted" it is meant that pellets or powder particles are pressed together to form a larger tablet.

[0022] In some embodiments, each beverage ingredient sheet has a maximum dimension of at least 1.5 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, or 5 mm. In some embodiments, each beverage ingredient sheet has a maximum dimension of no more than 20 mm, 19 mm, 18 mm, 17 mm, 16 mm, or 15 mm. In some embodiments, each beverage ingredient sheet has a maximum dimension between 1.5 mm-20 mm, 2 mm-20 mm, 2 mm-18 mm, or 2 mm-15 mm.

[0023] This large tablet size provides an enlarged space within the container for fluid flow and turbulence generation, thereby facilitating dissolution / suspension of beverage ingredients. In addition, embodiments having this tablet size help to extend the wetting front of the beverage ingredients and prevent the formation of a single compacted beverage ingredient layer that may be difficult to dissolve (especially when the powder contains fat).

[0024] In some embodiments, at least two of the beverage ingredient sheets are substantially uniform in size and / or shape. In some preferred embodiments, the change in maximum size between each beverage ingredient sheet in the container is less than 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% or 9% of the maximum sheet. In some preferred embodiments, the change in maximum size between each beverage ingredient sheet in the container is no more than 20%, 18%, 16%, 15% or 10% of the maximum sheet. In some preferred embodiments, the change in maximum size between each beverage ingredient sheet in the container is between 1%-20%, 1%-15%, 1%-10% or 2%-10% of the maximum sheet. It should be understood that the beverage ingredient sheet may include a small amount of broken sheets and accompanying dust in packaging or transportation, which are not included in the selection of the maximum size and minimum size of this measurement purpose. In other embodiments, each sheet is substantially the same size and / or shape. The uniformity of shape between the sheets has the following additional advantages: dissolving / suspending is consistent and there is more space for solvent penetration between the ingredient sheets.

[0025] In some embodiments, there are 10-1000, 10-500, or 10-300 beverage ingredient tablets within the beverage ingredient container.

[0026] This tablet count provides additional advantages in filling efficiency, properly prepared beverage strength and container fill weight.

[0027] In some embodiments, at least one, and preferably each, of the beverage ingredient tablets has a particle size of at least 0.5 g / cm 3 , 0.6g / cm 3 , 0.7g / cm 3 or 0.8g / cm 3 In some embodiments, at least one, and preferably each, of the beverage ingredient tablets has a density of no more than 2 g / cm 3 , 1.5g / cm 3 , 1.4g / cm 3 , 1.3g / cm 3 or 1.2g / cm 3 In some embodiments, at least one, and preferably each, of the beverage ingredient tablets has a density of between 0.5 g / cm 3 and 2g / cm 3 , 0.5g / cm 3 and 1.5g / cm 3 , 0.6g / cm 3 and 1.4 g / cm 3 or 0.7g / cm 3 and 1.3 g / cm 3 In a preferred embodiment, all sheets have substantially the same density.

[0028] Densities within these limits provide the additional advantages of optimizing packing density within the confines of a container that can be inserted into the machine, optimizing headspace for fluid flow and solubility, and reducing beverage ingredient residue. Uniformity of density between tablets has the additional advantage of consistent dissolution / suspension.

[0029] In some embodiments, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient sheets has a mass of at least 0.08g, 0.1g, 0.12g or 0.15g. In some embodiments, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient sheets has a mass of no more than 0.55g, 0.5g or 0.45g. In some embodiments, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient sheets has a mass between 0.08g and 0.55g, 0.1g and 0.5g or 0.12g and 0.45g. In preferred embodiments, all sheets have substantially the same mass.

[0030] These mass ranges provide the additional advantage of an optimal bulk density within the confines of a container insertable into a beverage machine. The uniformity of mass between tablets has the additional advantage of consistent dissolution / suspension.

[0031] In a preferred embodiment, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient slices comprises fat, sugar, sweetener, milk powder, soluble coffee, dairy creamer, non-dairy creamer and / or chocolate powder. In some embodiments, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient slices is milk powder, dairy creamer, non-dairy creamer and / or chocolate powder. In some embodiments, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient slices comprises at least 5 wt%, 6 wt%, 7 wt%, 8 wt%, 9 wt% or 10 wt% fat. In some embodiments, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient slices comprises no more than 70 wt%, 60 wt%, 50 wt%, 30 wt% or 20 wt% fat. In some embodiments, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient slices comprises between 5 wt% and 25 wt%, 70 wt% fat, preferably 10 wt% to 25 wt% fat; 5 wt% to 20 wt% or 10 wt% to 20 wt% fat. In an embodiment, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient tablets comprises chocolate powder; the powder comprises at least 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5 or 6 wt% fat and / or no more than 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5 or 7 wt% fat and / or between 4 and 9 wt%; 4 to 8 wt%; 4 to 7 wt%; 5 to 9 wt%; 5 to 8 wt% or 6 to 8 wt% fat. In a further embodiment wherein at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient tablets comprises milk powder, the powder comprises at least 10, 11 or 12 wt% and / or no more than 30, 25, 22 or 20 wt% fat and / or between 10 and 25, 10 to 20, 12 to 25 or 12 to 20 wt% fat. In further embodiments wherein at least one, or preferably each, of the beverage ingredient tablets comprises a dairy creamer powder or a non-dairy creamer powder, the powder comprises at least 25 wt % and / or no more than 70 wt % fat and / or between 25 wt % and 70 wt % fat.

[0032] Beverage powders containing such amounts of fat as described herein are known in the art to have lower solubility in water. Embodiments of the present invention having such fat content have the particular advantage of being sufficiently soluble to produce beverages with adequate solids content and low beverage ingredient residues.

[0033] In some embodiments, at least one or preferably each of the beverage ingredient sheets has a water activity of less than 0.45, 0.40, 0.39, 0.38 or less than 0.37, which can be measured, for example, by the standard dew point measurement method on the Aqua Lab 3TE series, and in preferred embodiments, the water activity is less than 0.35 or less than 0.32, and most preferably between 0.20 and 0.30. Preferably, throughout the storage period, the beverage ingredient maintains a water activity of less than 0.45. In other embodiments, each sheet in the sheet has substantially the same water activity. The uniformity of water activity between sheets has the additional advantages of consistent dissolution / suspension and consistent product shelf life.

[0034] Embodiments with low water activity have the additional advantages of good solubility after storage and consistent product performance over shelf life.

[0035] In some embodiments, the beverage ingredients include dust in an amount of less than 3%, 2%, 1%, or 0.5% by weight of the total amount of beverage ingredients in the container. Dust is defined as beverage ingredient pieces that are significantly smaller than beverage ingredient powder pieces, such as less than 500 microns, 250 microns, or 150 microns.

[0036] In use, embodiments having this level of dust have the particular advantage of improving the solubility uniformity of the beverage ingredient block in use.

[0037] In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient container insertable into the beverage preparation machine is selected from the group consisting of: capsules, trays, pods, pads, semi-rigid pads, filter bags, pouches, and cartridges. In preferred embodiments, the volume of the beverage ingredient container is between 15 ml and 80 ml or between 20 ml and 65 ml. In a more preferred embodiment, the beverage ingredient container insertable into the beverage preparation machine comprises a beverage preparation machine readable portion.

[0038] Embodiments having such a container volume have the additional advantage of compatibility with beverage preparation machines and the ability of the capsule to communicate with the machine in order to optimize at least one parameter of the final beverage, such as the % of beverage powder suspended / dissolved therein.

[0039] In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient powder or granules account for at least 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75% or 80% and / or no more than 95% or 90% of the total volume of the beverage ingredient container. In some preferred embodiments, the beverage ingredient powder or granules account for between 45% and 95%, or between 55% and 95%, or between 65% and 95%, or between 75% and 95%, or between 45% and 90%, or between 55% and 90%, or between 65% and 90%, or between 75% and 90% of the total volume of the beverage ingredient container.

[0040] In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient powder particles or granules that make up the beverage ingredient tablet have a median particle size (sometimes described as D50) of at least 200 microns, 225 microns, 250 microns, 275 microns and / or no more than 900 microns, 800 microns, 700 microns, 600 microns, 550 microns, 500 microns or 450 microns. In preferred embodiments, the median particle size is greater than 250 microns.

[0041] In some preferred embodiments, the beverage ingredient powder particles or granules constituting the beverage ingredient tablet have a median particle size between 50 and 600, between 100 and 600 microns; between 100 and 400 microns; or especially between 100 and 300 microns. The median particle size can be measured by laser diffraction (e.g. Sympatec Helos equipment).

[0042] Beverage ingredient tablets comprising particles of these sizes provide an optimum balance of powder or granular flowability when handling the compacted beverage ingredient tablet, friability in packaging, and solubility in use.

[0043] In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient powder or granules include chocolate powder, and in other embodiments, the beverage ingredient powder or granules include milk powder. In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient sheet comprising chocolate powder or granules has at least 620g / l; 640g / l or 660g / l bulk density. In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient sheet comprising chocolate powder or granules has a bulk density of no more than 800g / l, 750g / l or 720g / l. In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient sheet comprising chocolate powder or granules has between 620g / l and 800g / l; 640g / l to 750g / l or 660g / l to 720g / l bulk density.

[0044] In embodiments where the beverage ingredient powder or granules comprise milk powder, the bulk density of the beverage ingredient sheet is at least 520 g / l; 540 g / l or 550 g / l. In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient sheet comprising milk powder or granules has a bulk density of no more than 800 g / l, 750 g / l or 720 g / l. In some embodiments, the beverage ingredient sheet comprising milk powder or granules has a bulk density between 520 g / l and 800 g / l; 540 g / l to 750 g / l or 550 g / l to 700 g / l.

[0045] Such densities offer the additional advantage of a good balance between solubility and packing density within a container that can be inserted into the machine.

[0046] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preparing a beverage ingredient capsule according to the first aspect of the present invention, the method comprising the following steps:

[0047] a) providing a compacted mass of beverage ingredient powder or granules;

[0048] b) breaking up the blocks of compacted beverage ingredient powder or granules into pieces of compacted powder or granules,

[0049] c) sieving the flakes formed in step b); and

[0050] d) adding said beverage ingredient tablets of step b) to a container insertable into a beverage preparation machine.

[0051] In some embodiments, the container is subsequently sealed, preferably by heat sealing.Heat-sealed closures have the particular advantage of being easily pierced in order to extract the contents of the container in cooperation with a beverage preparation machine.

[0052] In some embodiments, the compacted beverage ingredient powder or pellets are produced by passing the beverage ingredient powder or pellets between opposing rollers. In some embodiments, the force applied between the opposing rollers is at least 0.5; 1 or 1.5 tons. In some embodiments, the force applied between the opposing rollers is no more than 5.5 or 5 tons. In some embodiments, the force applied between the opposing rollers is between 0.5 and 5 tons or between 1.5 and 5.5 tons.

[0053] Such compressive forces have the additional advantage of producing a further optimized balance of solubility and fill density when loaded to the confines of a container insertable into a beverage machine.

[0054] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preparing a beverage ingredient capsule according to the first aspect of the present invention, the method comprising the following steps:

[0055] a) providing beverage ingredient powder or granules;

[0056] b) compacting the beverage ingredient powder or granules into individual pieces of compacted powder or granules; and

[0057] c) adding said beverage ingredient tablets of step b) to a container insertable into a beverage preparation machine.

[0058] In some embodiments, the container is subsequently sealed, preferably by heat sealing.Heat-sealed closures have the particular advantage of being easily pierced in order to extract the contents of the container in cooperation with a beverage preparation machine.

[0059] In some embodiments, the force used to compact the beverage ingredients in step b) is at least 0.8 kN, 1 kN or 1.2 kN. In some embodiments, the force used to compact the beverage ingredients in step b) does not exceed 2.5 kN, 2.2 kN or 2 kN. In some embodiments, the force used to compact the beverage ingredients in step b) is between 0.8 kN and 2.5 kN or between 1 kN and 2.5 kN.

[0060] Such compressive forces have the additional advantage of producing a further optimized balance of solubility and fill density when loaded to the confines of a container insertable into a beverage machine.

[0061] In some embodiments, the compaction rate in step b) is at least 15 mm / min, 20 mm / min, or 25 mm / min. In some embodiments, the compaction rate in step b) is no more than 100 mm / min, 75 mm / min, or 50 mm / min. In some embodiments, the compaction rate in step b) is between 15 mm / min and 100 mm / min or between 15 mm / min and 50 mm / min.

[0062] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preparing a beverage, the method comprising the following steps:

[0063] a) providing a beverage container according to the first aspect of the present invention;

[0064] b) conveying a fluid through the container and dissolving and / or suspending at least a portion of at least some of the tablets in the fluid such that the fluid exiting the container contains at least a portion of the beverage ingredients dissolved and / or suspended therein; and

[0065] c) collecting at least a portion of the solution or suspension of beverage ingredients in a second container.

[0066] In some embodiments, the amount of beverage ingredient dissolved and / or suspended in the fluid is greater than 75%, 80%, 85% or 90% by weight of the beverage ingredient tablet present in the container prior to beverage preparation.

[0067] In some embodiments, the residue of beverage ingredients remaining in the container after beverage preparation is less than 25%, 20%, 15% or 10% by weight of the amount of beverage material in the container before beverage preparation.

[0068] In some embodiments, the volume of fluid transport in step b) is at least 10 ml, 25 ml or at least 50 ml. The volume of fluid transport in step b) may, for example, be between 50 ml and 300 ml.

[0069] In some embodiments, the fluid transported in step b) is transported at a pressure of less than 10 bar, 9 bar, 8 bar, 7 bar, 6 bar, or preferably less than 5 bar. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0070] In order that the present invention may be more clearly understood, embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0071] Figure 1 An image of a container of the invention in the form of a t-tray of Example 1 is shown before the lid is applied and before brewing;

[0072] Figure 2 An image showing the residue in the T-tray of Example 1 after brewing;

[0073] Figure 3 shows an image of a container of the present invention in the form of a t-tray of Example 3 before application of a lid and before brewing; and

[0074] Figure 4 An image of the residue in the t-tray of Example 3 after brewing is shown.

[0075] In the drawings, like numbers indicate similar or identical components.

[0076] refer to Figure 1, moving clockwise through the image from the upper left corner, shows five beverage machine-insertable containers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) ("T-trays") filled with the compacted chocolate powder tablets of the present invention: the first filled T-tray (1) includes a large T-tray shell (100) and a compacted powder tablet (11); the second filled T-tray (3) includes a large T-tray shell (100) and a compacted powder tablet (13); the third filled T-tray (5) includes a large T-tray shell (100) and a compacted powder tablet (15); the fourth filled T-tray (7) includes a small T-tray shell (200) and a compacted powder tablet (17); and the fifth filled T-tray (9) includes a small T-tray shell (200) and a compacted powder tablet (19).

[0077] refer to Figure 2 , showing the Figure 1 Five containers (21, 23, 25, 27, 29) insertable into a beverage machine with the foil cover partially removed in order to see the relative amount of residue left inside. Moving clockwise through the images from top left: Figure 1 The first filled T-shaped pan (21) comprises a large T-shaped pan housing (100) and wet residues (31) of compacted powder; Figure 1 The second filled T-shaped pan (23) includes a large T-shaped pan housing (100) and wet residue (33) of compacted powder; Figure 1 The third filled T-pan (25) includes a large T-pan housing (100) and wet residue (35) of compacted powder; Figure 1 The fourth filled T-dish (27) includes a small T-dish housing (200) and a wet residue (37) of compacted powder; and after use Figure 1 The fifth filled T-pan (29) includes a small T-pan housing (200) and wet residue (39) of compacted powder.

[0078] refer to Figure 3 , showing three beverage machine-insertable containers (41, 43, 45) filled with an alternative compacted chocolate powder tablet of the present invention. Moving through the image from left to right: the sixth filled t-tray (41) includes a large t-tray housing (100) and an alternative compacted powder tablet (51); the seventh filled t-tray (43) includes a small t-tray housing (200) and an alternative compacted powder tablet (53); and the eighth filled t-tray (45) includes a small t-tray housing (200) and an alternative compacted powder tablet (55).

[0079] refer to Figure 4 , showing the Figure 3Three containers (41, 43, 45) insertable into a beverage machine filled with an alternative compacted chocolate powder tablet, with the foil cover partially removed in order to see the relative amount of residue left inside. Moving through the images from left to right: After use Figure 3 The sixth filled T-shaped tray (61) includes a large T-shaped tray housing (100) and wet residue (71) of compacted powder; Figure 3 The seventh filled T-dish (63) includes a small T-dish housing (200) and wet residue (53) of compacted powder; and after use Figure 3 The eighth filled t-pan (65) includes a small t-pan housing (200) and wet residue (75) of compacted powder.

[0080] For all embodiments, the large t-dish housing (100) had an internal volume of approximately 56 ml, and the small t-dish housing (200) had an internal volume of approximately 25 ml.

[0081] Example 1

[0082] An embodiment of a beverage machine insertable container comprising a compacted chocolate powder tablet of the first aspect of the invention produced by the method of the second aspect of the invention was produced and tested as described below.

[0083] A control chocolate powder is provided, which comprises 42% sucrose, 22% skim 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 flavoring. The control chocolate powder has a median particle size of 180 microns and other physical properties as shown in Table 1.

[0084]

[0085] Table 1 - Chocolate powder

[0086] A portion of the control chocolate powder was passed between two opposing rollers, each having a width of 20 mm and a diameter of 200 mm, to produce a compacted chocolate powder sheet. The rollers rotated at a rate of 10 rpm and a force of about 1 ton was applied between them. The compacted chocolate powder sheet was then broken up in a dry mixer and the product was sieved through a 1.8 mm sieve. The product that passed through the sieve was rejected and reprocessed by the method. The sheets of compacted chocolate powder of the present invention (11, 13, 15, 17, 19) were retained on the sieve.

[0087] Portions (11, 13, 15, 17, 19) of the compacted chocolate powder tablets of the present invention and portions of the control chocolate powder were loaded into standard large and small Tassimo (RTM) t-shaped pans (100, 200), respectively, and brewed using the corresponding large and small pan standard Milka (RTM) chocolate programs on a Tassimo chassis 6 brewing machine, and the average residue remaining in the pan after 5 repetitions of each was measured, as shown in Table 2. The residues (31, 33, 35, 37, 39) were dried in a vacuum dryer before the residue measurements were performed.

[0088] The Tassimo (RTM) chassis 6 machine provides water heated to 85°C to 95°C and a target drink volume of 160ml to 235ml.

[0089]

[0090] Table 2: Brewing performance of control chocolate powder and compacted chocolate powder

[0091] refer to Figure 1 , the first filled t-tray (1) was used for test 1; the second filled t-tray (3) was used for test 2; the third filled t-tray (5) was used for test 3; the fourth filled t-tray (7) was used for test 4; and the fifth filled t-tray (9) was used for test 5. The t-trays (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) shown are shown filled with various fill weights of the compacted chocolate powder of the present invention as described in Table 2 prior to brewing.

[0092] refer to Figure 2 , showing t-shaped trays (21, 23, 25, 27, 29) after opening and brewing to show the relative amount of residue remaining in each tray and corresponding to Figure 1 T-shaped plates (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 respectively). Figure 2 The residue remaining in the dish of Test 1 (31), the residue remaining in the dish of Test 2 (33), the residue remaining in the dish of Test 3 (35), the residue remaining in the dish of Test 4 (37), and the residue remaining in the dish of Test 5 (39) are shown.

[0093] For the same fill weight, the compacted chocolate powder tablets of the invention are shown to leave less residue in the pan after brewing than the control product. Even at increased fill weights, the compacted products of the invention provide lower residues, which shows the benefits of the invention over the control as a means of reducing the pan size required for a given beverage volume or increasing the maximum size of a beverage that can be prepared or increasing the strength of a given beverage.

[0094] Example 2

[0095] An embodiment of a beverage machine insertable container comprising a compacted milk powder tablet 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 .

[0096] The control milk powder contained 64% skim milk powder, 27.5% sugar and 8.25% milk fat powder (total fat 7.9%).The powder was processed in the same way as the chocolate powder of Example 1 to produce compacted milk powder tablets of the invention.

[0097] Portions of the compacted milk powder flakes of the present invention and portions of the control milk powder were loaded into standard large Tassimo (RTM) t-shaped pans, and brewed using the large pan standard milk program on a Tassimo (RTM) chassis 6 brewing machine, and the average residue remaining in the pan after 5 repetitions of each was measured, as shown in Table 3. The residue was dried in a vacuum dryer before measurement.

[0098]

[0099] Table 3: Brewing performance of control milk powder and compacted milk powder

[0100] For the same fill weight, the compacted milk powder tablets of the invention are shown to leave less residue in the tray after brewing than the control product. Even at increased fill weights, the compacted products of the invention provide lower residues, which shows the beneficial effect of the invention over the control as a means of reducing the tray size required for a given beverage volume or increasing the maximum size of a beverage that can be prepared or increasing the strength of a given beverage.

[0101] Example 3

[0102] An embodiment of a beverage machine insertable container comprising a compacted chocolate powder tablet of the first aspect of the invention produced by the method of the third aspect of the invention was produced and tested as described below.

[0103] A control chocolate powder of Example 1 is provided, comprising 42% sucrose, 22% skim 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 flavorings. The control chocolate powder has a median particle size of 180 microns and other physical properties as shown in Table 1.

[0104] A portion of the control chocolate powder was passed between two opposing rollers comprising opposing cavities in which the compacted powder tablets were formed. The cavities were generally disc-shaped, 10 mm in diameter, and 1.25 mm or 2.25 mm deep (to form corresponding tablets of 2.5 mm or 4.5 mm thickness), which in turn formed two batches of samples of alternative compacted chocolate powder tablets of the invention of different sizes. The rollers rotated at a rate of 30 mm / min and a force of about 1.5 kN was applied between them. The resulting alternative compacted chocolate powder tablets of the invention had the physical properties shown in Table 4.

[0105]

[0106] Table 4: Physical properties of batches of alternative compacted chocolate powder tablets of the invention .

[0107] Each of the two batches of compacted chocolate powder tablets of the invention and a portion of the control free-flowing chocolate powder were loaded into standard large and small Tassimo (RTM) t-pans (100, 200 respectively) and brewed using the corresponding large and small pan standard Milka (RTM) chocolate program on a Tassimo (RTM) chassis 6 brewing machine, and the average residue remaining in the pan after five repetitions of each was measured, as shown in Table 5. The residues (71, 73, 75) were dried in a vacuum dryer before each residue measurement was performed.

[0108] The Tassimo (RTM) chassis 6 machine provides water heated to 85°C to 95°C and a target drink volume of 160ml to 235ml.

[0109]

[0110] Table 5: Brewing performance of control chocolate powder and alternative compacted chocolate powder

[0111] refer to Figure 3 , the sixth filled t-tray (41) was used for test 8; the seventh filled t-tray (43) was used for test 9, and the eighth filled t-tray (45) was used for test 11. The t-trays (41, 43, 45) shown are shown filled to various fill weights as described in Table 5 with either Batch 1 or Batch 2 of the alternative compacted chocolate powder tablets of the present invention of Table 4 prior to brewing.

[0112] refer to Figure 4 , showing t-shaped trays (61, 63, 65) after opening and brewing to show the relative amounts of residue remaining in each tray and corresponding to Figure 3 T-shaped plates (41, 43, 45 respectively). Figure 4The residues remaining in the dish of Test 8 (61), the residues remaining in the dish of Test 9, the residues remaining in the dish of Test 9 (63), and the residues remaining in the dish of Test 11 (65) are shown.

[0113] It was shown that the alternative compacted chocolate powder tablets of the invention from Batch 1 (single tablet weight 0.35 g) left less residue in the pan after brewing than the control product.

[0114] It is shown that the alternative compacted chocolate powder tablets of the invention from Batch 2 (single tablet weight 0.2g) leave significantly less residue in the pan after brewing than the control product, and less residue than the example of Batch 1 using 0.35g tablets. This is believed to be due to the improved surface area to volume ratio of the inclusion of more smaller compacted powder tablets.

[0115] The above embodiments are described by way of example only. Many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A container insertable into a beverage machine, the container comprising a compacted tablet of beverage ingredient powder or granules, wherein the beverage ingredient powder particles or granules constituting the beverage ingredient tablet have a median particle size between 50 μm and 600 μm, and wherein the container insertable into the beverage machine is a pad.

2. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to claim 1, wherein at least one beverage ingredient tablet has a maximum dimension of at least 1.5 mm.

3. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the variation in the largest dimension between each of the beverage ingredient tablets within the container is less than 10% of the largest tablet.

4. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the beverage ingredient tablets has a thickness of between 0.5 g / cm 3 and 2g / cm 3 The density between.

5. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the beverage ingredient tablets has a mass of at least 0.08 g.

6. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least two of the beverage ingredient tablets are substantially uniform in at least one of size, shape, density or mass.

7. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to claim 6, wherein all of the beverage ingredient tablets are substantially uniform in at least one of size, shape, density or mass.

8. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the beverage ingredient tablets comprises at least one ingredient selected from the following list: fat, sugar, sweetener, milk powder, soluble coffee, dairy creamer, non-dairy creamer or chocolate powder.

9. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the beverage ingredient tablets, and preferably most or all of the tablets, comprises at least 5% by weight fat.

10. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the beverage ingredients comprise an amount of dust constituting less than 3% by weight of the total amount of beverage ingredients in the container.

11. A container insertable into a beverage machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the beverage ingredient container has a volume between 15ml and 80ml.

12. The container insertable into a beverage machine according to claim 1, wherein the pad is selected from the group consisting of: a soft pad, a semi-rigid pad, and a rigid pad.

13. A method for preparing a beverage ingredient capsule according to any one of claims 1 to 12, the method comprising the following steps: a. Providing a compacted block of beverage ingredient powder or granules; b. breaking the compacted beverage ingredient powder or granules into pieces, c. sieving the sheet formed in step b); as well as d. adding said beverage ingredient tablet of step b) to a container insertable into a beverage preparation machine, and wherein said container insertable into a beverage preparation machine is a pad.

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

15. A method for preparing a beverage ingredient capsule according to any one of claims 1 to 12, the method comprising the following steps: a. Provide beverage ingredient powder or granules; b. compacting the beverage ingredient powder or granules into a single tablet; and c. adding said beverage ingredient tablet of step b) to a container insertable into a beverage preparation machine, and wherein said container insertable into a beverage preparation machine is a pad.

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

17. A method for preparing a beverage, the method comprising the steps of: a. Providing a beverage container according to any one of claims 1 to 12; b. conveying a fluid through the container and dissolving and / or suspending at least a portion of at least some of the tablets in the fluid such that the fluid exiting the container contains at least a portion of the beverage ingredients dissolved and / or suspended therein; and c. Collecting at least a portion of the solution or suspension of beverage ingredients in a second container.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the residue of beverage ingredients remaining in the container after beverage preparation is less than 25% by weight of the amount of beverage material in the container before beverage preparation.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the fluid conveyed in step b) is conveyed at a pressure of less than 10 bar.

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