GB2293360A

GB2293360A - Individually-packaged portions of beverage compound

Info

Publication number: GB2293360A
Application number: GB9519219A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Francis Clarke
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-09-20
Filing date: 1995-09-20
Publication date: 1996-03-27
Also published as: GB9418880D0; GB9519219D0

Abstract

A beverage compound comprising at least two distinct ingredients for making an individual portion of a beverage when mixed with liquid is wrapped in a discrete package. The ingredients may comprise coffee, tea or chocolate together with milk and/or sugar. They may be mixed in powdered/granulated form and either compressed into a coherant lump which is then wrapped, or charged into a perforated packet having a dependent string. Alternatively, the ingredients may be in liquid form charged into lidded containers.

Description

DESCRIPTION BEVERAGE COMPOUNDS The present invention relates to beverage compounds.

It is known to make a hot beverage by, for example mixing and thereby dissolving coffee powder or granules, sugar and milk in hot water. The resultant mixture can be kept warm in a vacuum flask and thereby transported to a different location by the user for later consumption. Unfortunately, such beverages can taint the flask and render the flask difficult to clean after use. Furthermore, once the flask contains a single beverage, users of the flask can only consume that particular beverage which can be inconvenient if one user takes sugar and the other does not.

The above described problem can be overcome by carrying hot water in the flask, however, this requires separate containers for the tea, coffee, milk and sugar. This reduces the tainting and cleaning problems associated with the interior of the flask and also allows the user a choice of beverage, but has the disadvantage that it is necessary to carry, in addition to the flask, for example, a jar of coffee, box of tea bags, a bag of sugar, a carton of milk etc.

This has the disadvantage that it is cumbersome and also that it can be both messy and time consuming mixing several separate ingredients, especially if the user is in a confined space such as a car.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or alleviate the above described problems.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a beverage compound comprising at least two distinct ingredients for making a individual portion of a beverage when mixed with liquid, which ingredients are contained in a discrete package.

This has the advantage that an individual portion of ingredients for a beverage can be more easily transported than separate jars or packets of each ingredient. Furthermore, a user can select a beverage by selecting a package of beverage compound containing the desired ingredients and it is only necessary to carry the required portions, for example a coffee with milk, a coffee with milk and sugar, a tea with milk, a tea with milk and sugar, a tea with lemon etc. The individual portion being contained within a discrete package, keeps the ingredients clean and they can be simply carried in a pocket of the user or within a dry compartment of the flask. The ingredients can be liquid, powder, granules, grounds, or a mixture of the aforementioned.

In a preferred embodiment the ingredients are in the form of a coherent lump such as a cuboid. This has the advantage that the lump, when unwrapped from its package can be simply placed in a cup and dissolved in, for instance, hot water.

Preferably, the package is perforated. This has the advantage that fresh tea or coffee can be brewed from the leaves or grounds and the sugar and/or milk powder contained within the package can be dissolved in the water at the same time.

Preferably, the package has a dependent string.

This has the advantage that the package containing the ingredients can be easily removed from the cup after the tea or coffee has been brewed.

By way of example only, specific embodiments of the invention will now be described: In a first embodiment a beverage compound is formed by mixing together coffee powder, sugar and milk powder in the proportions one teaspoon of coffee to two teaspoons of sugar to two teaspoons of powdered milk, until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

The resultant mixture is compressed to form a solid block. The block is cut into individual lumps each containing substantially the equivalent measured one teaspoon of coffee, two teaspoons of sugar, and two teaspoons of powdered milk. Each lump is then individually wrapped in a piece of sheet material such as paper or foil.

In a second embodiment a beverage compound is formed by mixing together liquid coffee essence, liquid sugar, and liquid milk in the desired proportions. The resultant mixture is then poured into individual containers which are subsequently sealed with a foil or plastics lid. Ideally the lid has a preformed tab which can be folded back to open the container when required.

In a third embodiment a beverage compound is formed by mixing coffee grounds with sugar and powdered milk and filling individual perforated packets with the resultant mixture. Each perforated packet having formed thereon a dependent string.

It is not intended to restrict the invention to the above described examples, for instance instead of coffee the ingredient could be tea, or chocolate, the milk could be real or an artificial substitute, the sugar could be real or an artificial substitute. The proportions of ingredients within each individual portion is not necessarily as described above but could be for instance one teaspoon of sugar and no milk with the tea or coffee or milk with no sugar with the tea or coffee. The ingredients described are suitable for mixing with a liquid such as hot water or hot milk, but the ingredients of the beverage compound could also be suitable for mixing with a cold liquid, such as cold water or cold milk, for example fruit flavourings.

The individually wrapped portions of beverage compound could be packaged in a box or bag.

Claims

1. A beverage compound comprising at least two distinct ingredients for making an individual portion of a beverage when mixed with liquid, which ingredients are contained in a discrete package.

2. A compound as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the ingredients is soluble.

3. A compound as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the ingredients form a coherent lump.

4. A compound as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ingredients' lump is cuboidal.

5. A compound as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the discrete package is made of sheet material.

6. A compound as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the package is perforated.

7. A compound as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the package has a dependent string.

8. A compound as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the package has opening means.

9. A compound as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ingredients are at least two of the following, tea, coffee, chocolate, milk, or sugar.

10. A bag or carton comprising a plurality of discrete packages containing a compound as described in claim 1.

11. A soluble beverage compound substantially as hereinbefore described.