Tea Capsule Pasteurization Process for Cold Brew and Latte Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current machines preparing tea from tea leaves capsules face challenges in ensuring pasteurization, particularly for cold or iced tea and tea latte, due to inadequate temperature and time for killing bacteria, especially when brewing temperature is reduced or when tea is mixed with frothed milk at low temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A process and machine configuration that includes a pasteurization step within the capsule before dispensing tea, where hot water is introduced until all tea leaves are submerged, and then kept submerged for a sufficient time to achieve pasteurization, ensuring the tea is safe regardless of the final temperature in the receptacle, along with a milk frothing step that can be implemented during this process to maintain efficient hot water supply.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If tea is brewed at lower temperature or mixed with frothed milk at low temperature, then the final beverage temperature is reduced for cold or iced tea and tea latte, but the pasteurization effectiveness is insufficient leading to potential health risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing pasteurization of tea leaves inside the capsule before dispensing the brewed tea. The process introduces hot water into the capsule, maintains it for a sufficient time to achieve pasteurization, and only then dispenses the tea into the receptacle. This ensures that the pasteurization step occurs at adequate temperature regardless of the final beverage temperature, resolving the contradiction between serving cold/iced tea and ensuring effective pasteurization
2Ease of manufacture
If tea leaves are simply dried and filled in capsules without roasting, then the processing is simpler and preserves tea properties, but bacteria are not killed and harmful substances may remain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs pasteurization as a preliminary action during the brewing process itself. By introducing hot water into the capsule and maintaining it for a sufficient time before dispensing, the system achieves bacterial killing without requiring additional roasting or complex processing steps. This resolves the contradiction by integrating the safety function into the existing simple manufacturing and brewing process
3Ease of manufacture
If the same hot water source is used for both frothing milk and preparing tea beverage, then manufacturing costs are reduced, but it becomes difficult to supply hot water to both devices successively at adequate temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the pasteurization step in the capsule as a preliminary action before the tea is dispensed. This timing allows the system to manage hot water supply efficiently - the capsule is filled and pasteurized first, and only after this step is complete is the tea dispensed. This sequence ensures adequate temperature for pasteurization while allowing the same hot water source to be used for both frothing and brewing without temperature compromise
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Guarantees the pasteurization of tea leaves, ensuring food safety and optimal extraction of tea, even when brewed at lower temperatures or mixed with frothed milk, while maintaining a cost-effective and efficient brewing process.
Implementation Method 1
introducing hot water in the capsule until all the tea leaves are submerged by hot water inside the capsule and stopping water introduction before tea is dispensed therefrom in the drinking receptacle, then keeping all the tea leaves submerged in hot water during a period of time
Data Source
AI summary
The invention concerns a process for preparing a tea in a drinking receptacle with a tea brewing machine, said machine being configured:—to brew tea from a capsule, said capsule comprising tea leaves, by introducing hot water in said capsule and dispensing brewed tea from the capsule in the drinking receptacle, and—to pump and heat water and dispense hot water to the capsule, wherein said process comprises a step of pasteurization of tea leaves inside the capsule before dispensing brewed tea from the capsule inside the drinking receptacle, wherein said pasteurization step comprises the sub-steps of: p1)—introducing hot water in the capsule until all the tea leaves are submerged by hot water inside the capsule and stopping water introduction before tea is dispensed therefrom in the drinking receptacle, then p2) keeping all the tea leaves submerged in hot water during a period of time, wherein the temperature of hot water introduced in sub-step p1) and the sum of the periods of time of sub-steps p1) and p2) before dispensing tea from the capsule are set to pasteurize the tea leaves comprised in the capsule.