Coffee and tea brewing apparatus and system

Abstract

A method and system for brewing a desired volume of coffee at a selected brew time, in which a volume of water corresponding to the desired volume of coffee is heated and directed into contact with coffee grounds in a brewing chamber. Contact between at least a portion of the heated water and the coffee grounds is maintained for approximately the selected brew time to form brewed coffee. The brewing time, however, is substantially independent of the desired volume of coffee to be brewed and is controlled by control of the rate at which heated liquid flows into or out of the brewing chamber. At the expiration of the brewing time, brewed coffee is released through an opening in the brewing chamber and into an underlying receptacle.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to the field of cooking appliances and particularly to the field of apparatuses and systems for brewing coffee and tea.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCoffee is brewed by placing hot water into contact with ground, roasted coffee for a given period of time. Coffee beans contain approximately 600 chemical compounds, a high percentage of which result in bitter and poor tasting coffee, which is often incorrectly referred to as "strong coffee." These undesirable compounds are normally released into brewed coffee when the hot water remains in contact with the ground coffee beans for relatively long durations. A primary influence on the taste of brewed coffee is therefore the "brew time," the amount of time that the heated water is in contact with the ground coffee beans. Brew time is similarly important to the brewing of teas.Experts in the coffee industry recommend brewing so-called "regular grind" coffee using brew times within t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The advantage of this new coffee maker is that it allows a user to brew coffee which will be of consistent quality regardless of the mount of coffee brewed. This is achieved by maintaining a constant "brew time," i.e. the time the ground coffee is exposed to hot water, regardless of the amount of coffee to be made. In the preferred embodiment, this is achieved by quickly dispensing heated water into a brewing chamber that contains the ground coffee. The flow of the water out of the brewing chamber is controlled so that the ground coffee is exposed to heated water in the brewing chamber for the desired brewing time.

The coffee making system of the present invention provides consistently superior tasting coffee and further allows the user to control the brewing time to adjust the coffee taste according to personal preference and experience and is adaptable to standard ground coffee and fine ground espresso type grind.

Problems solved by technology

Coffee beans contain approximately 600 chemical compounds, a high percentage of which result in bitter and poor tasting coffee, which is often incorrectly referred to as "strong coffee."

These undesirable compounds are normally released into brewed coffee when the hot water remains in contact with the ground coffee beans for relatively long durations.

Heated water (which in the prior art is usually only heated to between 170.degree. and 185.degree. F.) is pumped onto the coffee grounds in the plastic chamber at a relatively constant rate (which, as discussed below, is too low and thus results in a brew time that is too long).

The diverted water dilutes the brewed coffee and reduces its perceived "strength."

Although each of the above-described coffee brewing systems are somewhat satisfactory for brewing small quantifies of coffee, it has been found that the taste of coffee brewed using those systems is inconsistent over the range of volumes of coffee that those systems can produce.

Each of the prior art systems described above lacks a feature which will maintain a consistent brew time regardless of the quantity of coffee to be made in the system.

Images