Method of tea extraction
AssigneeFood Equipment Technologies Company, Inc.
InventorZbigniew G. Lassota
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of making tea with a tea maker (54) provided with a control system (116) that enables the tea to be intermittently drained of water to allow contact of the tea (52,26) with atmospheric oxygen several times during each brew cycle to enhance flavor and to eliminate the problems associated with seeping of the tea.
Claims15
A method of brewing tea in an automatic tea maker having a supply of hot brew water, a controlled valve for passing the hot brew water into a brew basket, a supply of mixing water, and a dispensing urn for receipt of tea extract from a drain hole in the brew basket and receipt of mixing water from the mixing water supply, comprising the steps of:
- establishing with a timer of a controller a brew cycle, said brew cycle being composed of a plural succession of extraction cycles, each extraction cycle alternating between an intermittent add period of preselected duration and an intermittent pause period of preselected duration;
- placing dry tea ingredient at the bottom of the brew basket;
- opening the controlled valve during each add period to add hot water from the hot brew water supply to the tea at the bottom of the brew basket, and
- closing the controlled valve during each of the intermittent pause periods to allow the hot brew later added during the add period to drain sufficiently through the tea and out of the drain hole as tea extract to expose to atmospheric air the tea within the brew basket before the commencement of the next add period;
- and
- draining from the brew basket through a drain hole of sufficient size substantially all of the tea extract during each pause period.
A method of making tea in an automatic tea maker having a supply of hot brew water, a controlled valve for passing the hot brew water into a brew basket, a supply of mixing water, and a dispensing urn for receipt of tea extract and receipt of mixing water from the mixing water supply, comprising the steps of:
- placing a preselected amount of tea within the brew basket;
- during a brew cycle automatically passing a preselected quantity of hot brew water into the brew basket and into contact with the tea at the bottom of the brew basket at a preselected brew water passing rate;
- and
- draining tea extract from the brew basket at a preselected drain rate relative to the preselected brew water passing rate to prevent the tea from continuously steeping in its entirety in the hot water for the entire brew cycle and to thereby expose the tea to atmospheric air including oxygen during a significant portion of the brew cycle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.