Beverage cartridge

A cartridge comprising,

• one or more beverage ingredients, and an inlet for the introduction of an aqueous medium and a discharge outlet for the beverage produced from the one or more beverage ingredients, the cartridge incorporating within a beverage flow path between the inlet and the discharge outlet an eductor for entraining air into the beverage, the eductor comprising an aperture for producing a jet of the beverage, at least one air inlet, and a channel downstream of the aperture, the channel comprising,
• a wall, an entrance and an exit through which the beverage travels, and at least one impact surface onto which the jet of beverage impinges, and a curved portion having a floor that extends from the wall of the channel;
• the cartridge further comprising a circulation chamber between the channel of the eductor and the outlet, with the circulation chamber comprising a spiral shaped bounding wall disposed adjacent the channel, the circulation chamber further comprising a floor extending from the spiral-shaped bounding wall that slopes inwardly and downwardly toward the discharge outlet, the channel entering the circulation chamber tangentially to the spiral-shaped bounding wall and from a periphery of said circulation chamber and wherein the floor of the channel slopes downwardly toward the circulation chamber, and wherein the discharge outlet of the cartridge is located at a center of said circulation chamber so that both the spiral-shaped bounding wall and the floor of the circulation chamber encircles the discharge outlet of the cartridge, and wherein the circulation chamber is shaped to cause the beverage exiting the channel of the eductor to travel along the curved bounding wall of the circulation chamber before exiting the discharge outlet.

A cartridge comprising,

• one or more beverage ingredients, and an inlet for the introduction of an aqueous medium and a discharge outlet for the beverage produced from the one or more beverage ingredients, the cartridge incorporating within a beverage flow path between the inlet and the discharge outlet an eductor for entraining air into the beverage, the eductor comprising an aperture for producing a jet of the beverage, a channel downstream of the aperture, and at least one air inlet, the channel comprising an entrance and exit through which the beverage travels, and at least one impact surface onto which the jet of beverage impinges,
• the cartridge further comprising a circulation chamber between the eductor and the outlet, the circulation chamber having a spiral-shaped bounding wall with a curved portion thereof disposed adjacent the exit of the channel, the circulation chamber further comprising a floor that extends from the spiral-shaped bounding wall and the floor slopes inwardly and downwardly toward discharge the outlet and wherein spiral-shaped bounding wall and the floor of the circulation chamber encircles the discharge outlet of the cartridge such that the discharge outlet is at the center of the circulation chamber, the channel further comprising a wall and a curved portion having a floor that extends from the wall, and the floor slopes downwardly toward the circulation chamber, the channel being configured to direct the beverage along the spiral shaped bounding wall as the beverage enters the circulation chamber and wherein the channel enters the circulation chamber tangentially to the spiral shaped bounding wall, so the beverage follows the spiral shape of the spiral-shaped bounding wall around the circulation chamber and wherein,
• the discharge outlet comprises a discharge spout comprising at least one fin for controlling an outflow direction of the beverage issuing from the cartridge.