TASTING SAMPLER
A tasting sampler with a rounded glass body and inert sealing element addresses the issue of inadequate heating in existing samplers, ensuring rapid and uniform warming for strong alcoholic beverages, thus preserving their organoleptic properties.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- FR2025007856
- Authority / Receiving Office
- FR · FR
- Patent Type
- Utility models
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2024-07-10
- Filing Date
- 2025-07-09
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-16
- Estimated Expiration
- 2035-07-09
AI Technical Summary
Existing tasting samplers for strong alcoholic beverages like cognac or brandy fail to effectively reveal their organoleptic properties due to inadequate heating methods, material choice, and shape, which are not suitable for rapid and uniform warming without additional equipment, and are not designed for small volumes.
A tasting sampler with a rounded body, glass material, and a sealing element made of inert polymer, allowing uniform heating by the user's hands, maintaining airtightness and preserving organoleptic properties.
The sampler ensures rapid and uniform heating of the beverage, preserving its aroma and taste without external heating means, by using the user's hands to achieve optimal temperature conditions.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
Title of the invention: TASTING SAMPLER technical field
[0001] The utility model relates to tasting samplers for alcoholic beverages, in particular strong alcoholic beverages such as cognac or brandy. BACKGROUND
[0002] According to the prior art, small-volume containers up to 200 ml, designed for alcoholic beverages such as wine, are known. For example, US patent 9156587 discloses a wine container with a volume of 187 ml, made of plastic or glass and comprising a rounded body and a lid formed like a film for retaining a beverage inside the body.
[0003] These containers and those of a similar type are designed to store alcoholic beverages in a volume smaller than that of a standard bottle, which is generally 750 ml. They are essentially the same bottles, but with a smaller volume. To fully appreciate the taste and evaluate the organoleptic properties of a beverage, the container must first be placed in an environment with appropriate temperature conditions, which is not always possible. Furthermore, such a container is completely unsuitable for simply tasting a beverage, that is, for consuming a small amount in a few sips, because after opening such a container and tasting the beverage, most of the drink would have to be discarded.
[0004] US patent 6644846 discloses a wine tasting sampler having a plastic body of fairly complex design and a volume ranging from 2 to 16 ounces, or approximately 60 to 470 ml. The plastic body allows the contents of the sampler to be slightly warmed, provided that the volume of the beverage it contains is close to the lower limit of the specified range. However, the material of the body directly and adversely affects the organoleptic properties of the beverage, and the truncated cone shape of the known sampler's body does not allow the beverage to be warmed in a way that fully reveals its aroma and taste.
[0005] In addition to the containers described above, similar solutions known in the prior art, as well as other containers for similar use, are designed for alcoholic beverages with low or medium alcohol content and are not suitable for use with strong beverages such as cognac or brandy, as these require more delicate heating of the container holding the beverage. It is It is also desirable that heating to the correct temperature does not require special equipment or a lot of time.
[0006] Thus, creating a tasting sampler that can be successfully used for strong alcoholic beverages, such as cognac or brandy, which must be warmed to a certain temperature to fully reveal their flavor without resorting to additional means, presents a technical problem to be solved. The problem is complicated by the fact that the organoleptic properties of such beverages are best revealed within a fairly narrow temperature range, which is cumulatively influenced by the shape of the sampler, its material, its volume, and other characteristics, the selection of which is a complex and non-trivial task. SUMMARY OF THE UTILITY MODEL
[0007] The technical problem faced by the authors of the present utility model was to develop a new tasting sampler for alcoholic beverages, in particular strong alcoholic beverages such as cognac or brandy, by eliminating the disadvantages of similar solutions known according to the prior art.
[0008] The technical result obtained by this utility model consists of providing a sufficiently rapid, but relatively precise and uniform, heating of a beverage placed in the tasting sampler, using only the heat of the user's hands, which allows the organoleptic properties of the beverage to be revealed as completely as possible during its tasting.
[0009] Furthermore, the claimed sampler and all possible embodiments of the Utility models, which are not intended to be limiting, are explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawings. Brief description of the drawings
[0010] Figure [1] schematically shows the claimed tasting sampler with a beverage inside.
[0011] Figure [Fig.2] schematically shows the claimed tasting sampler with a sealing element.
[0012] List of reference numbers:
[0013] 1 - tasting sampler;
[0014] 2-drink;
[0015] 3 - body;
[0016] 4-base;
[0017] 5 - stopper;
[0018] 6 - sealing element. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE UTILITY MODEL
[0019] The problem posed is solved and the claimed technical result is obtained thanks to the fact that the tasting sampler (1) claimed for an alcoholic beverage (2), such as cognac or brandy, comprises a container consisting of a body (3) of substantially rounded shape or close to it, a base (4) adjacent to the body and a stopper (5).
[0020] The stopper (5) is fixed to the neck of the body (3) and is equipped with a sealing element (6) to prevent a beverage (2) from spilling, reduce any heat exchange with the environment and prevent air from entering the body (3), said sealing element being made of an inert material, for example a polymer containing fluorine, which does not affect the organoleptic properties of the beverage (2) at normal storage and transport temperatures of the tasting sampler (1) containing the beverage (2) or when heating the beverage (2) to the required tasting temperature.
[0021] When using the tasting sampler (1), its body (3) is held for a certain time by the user's hand or hands, which allows the beverage (2) contained in the container to be heated to the required temperature.
[0022] The base (4) is preferably made to be more massive than the body (3), so that only the beverage (2) filling the volume of the body (3) held by the user's hand(s) is primarily subjected to heating. The container is thermally insulated from the environment by the base (4) from below and by the cap (5) with the sealing element (6) from above.
[0023] The most suitable material for manufacturing the container and the stopper (5) is glass. However, those skilled in the art will understand that other materials could be chosen, provided they meet certain conditions, such as the required thermal conductivity, inertness with respect to the beverage (2), ease of manufacture during the production of the tasting sampler (1), and several others.
[0024] The body (3) is rounded so that it can be held almost entirely by the user's hand(s) to ensure a uniform but rapid transfer of heat to the beverage (2). To this end, it is also desirable, although not necessary, that the lower part of the body (3) adjacent to the base (4) be spherical.
[0025] The wall thickness of the body (3) must be low in order to ensure, among other things, rapid and uniform heat transfer to the beverage (2). More specifically, it is preferable that the wall thickness of the body (3) be between 1.3 and 1.6 mm, or even better, between 1.4 and 1.5 mm.
[0026] In addition to all the above, the internal volume of the body (3) is also important, as it determines the volume of a beverage (2) to be enjoyed. According to the claimed technical solution, the internal volume of the body (3) corresponds to its filling with a beverage (2) weighing between 40 and 70 g in order to ensure the most optimal heating of the beverage (2), such as cognac or brandy, by the user's hands in terms of speed and uniformity of heating, so as to reveal to the maximum the organoleptic properties of such a beverage. In a preferred embodiment, the specified internal volume of the body (3) corresponds to its filling with a beverage (2) weighing between 45 and 65 g, or even better, between 50 and 60 g.
[0027] It should be noted that in this case, the internal volume of the body (3) is measured in grams and corresponds to the volume that would be occupied by a drink (in particular cognac or brandy) having the same mass.
[0028] The author carried out numerous tests with different tasting samplers (1), characterized by different materials of the body (3), base (4) and stopper (5); by different body shapes (3); by different values of the internal volume and wall thickness of the body (3); and by the presence or absence of a sealing element (6). In addition, different brands of cognac and brandy were used as the beverage (2), with an approximate volume corresponding to a mass between 15 and 40 grams.
[0029] The tests mainly assessed the perception of the drink based on its taste properties, aroma, aftertaste and flavor.
[0030] First of all, the tests showed that their results were largely independent of the brand of cognac or brandy.
[0031] It has been found that the most optimal shape for the body (3) is a rounded or near-spherical shape. More specifically, the best results were obtained when the shape of the lower part (approximately half) of the body (3) adjacent to the base (4) was near-spherical, i.e., spheroidal. Such shapes ensure the most uniform and rapid heating of the beverage (2), which is important for more fully revealing its organoleptic properties.
[0032] Furthermore, the speed and uniformity of the heating, as well as the saturation of the beverage vapors with oxygen molecules from the air during simultaneous stirring and heating by the user's hands, are determined by the internal volume of the body (3). The most optimal volume of the body (3) corresponds to its filling with a beverage (2) weighing between 50 and 60 grams, although good results have also been obtained in the range between 40 and 70 grams. When the internal volumes of the body (3) are smaller, the heating is significantly faster, resulting in uneven heating, or even excessive heating of the drink (2); when volumes are larger, heating is slower and, above all, less uniform throughout the entire volume of the drink (2).
[0033] On the one hand, the use of the sealing element (6) helps to ensure the airtightness of the internal volume of the body (3), that is, to prevent volatile compounds from escaping from the beverage (2) during heating until the tasting sampler (1) is opened, and to allow these compounds to mix with a specific amount of air in order to fully reveal the organoleptic properties of the beverage at the appropriate time. On the other hand, outside air does not penetrate the container, which also has a positive effect on the organoleptic properties of the beverage.
[0034] Finally, the use of glass as a material for the manufacture of the body (3), the base (4) and the stopper (5) also influences the preservation and enhancement of the true organoleptic properties of the beverage (2).
[0035] Furthermore, it has been observed that the aforementioned factors mutually reinforce their impact when their most optimal values are chosen together; in other words, a synergistic effect occurs. Apparently, this is due to the composition of a beverage (2), such as cognac or brandy, and the results would have been different for other alcoholic beverages.
[0036] Thus, during its use, the claimed tasting sampler (1) fully and adequately preserves and guarantees, at best, the organoleptic properties of strong alcoholic beverages, such as cognac or brandy, which must be warmed to a certain temperature to fully reveal their taste qualities without using additional means.
Claims
Demands
1. Tasting sample (1) for alcoholic beverage (2), such as cognac or brandy, comprising a container and a stopper (5) made of glass and characterized in that the container comprises a rounded body (3) and a base (4), in that the stopper (5) contains a sealing element (6) made of an inert material and in that the internal volume of the body (3) corresponds to its filling with an alcoholic beverage (2) weighing between 40 and 70 grams.
2. Tasting sample according to claim 1, characterized in that the wall thickness of the body (3) is between 1.3 and 1.6 mm, or better still between 1.4 and 1.5 mm.
3. Tasting sample according to claim 1, characterized in that the sealing element (6) is made of a polymer containing fluorine.
4. Tasting sample according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal volume of the body (3) corresponds to its filling with an alcoholic beverage (2) weighing between 45 and 65 grams, or better still between 50 and 60 grams.
5. Tasting sample according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower half of the body (3) adjacent to the base (4) has a spherical shape.