Conventional automatic drip coffee makers require about one minute of manual involvement to commence a brewing cycle. The automatic drip coffee maker herein disclosed makes a full decanter of coffee within 11/2-2 minutes following the one minute manual involvement. The automatic drip coffee maker of the present invention uses preheated water but only the amount required for a decanter of coffee (1/2 gallon) making it unnecessary to employ a large reservoir. The concept, in a preferred embodiment, is to commence the brewing cycle by an almost instantaneous dump of the preheated water to a transfer tank which, in turn, meters heated water to the grounds at such a rate as to insure almost immediate contact between all the coffee grounds and all the hot water. The dump time for preheated water from the preheated reservoir to the transfer tank is less than the time required to fill a receptacle with cold water. Thus by the time cold water addition may be made to the automatic drip coffee maker, the preheat tank is empty and coffee is in the process of being brewed.
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.
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.
A beverage brewer (20) with a programmable dispenser cycle dispenser valve controller (36) for controlling a dispenser valve (34) to intermittently open and close during a plurality of control periods of an intermittent dispense period (88) to selectively control the quantity of hot water that is dispensed without changing the overall duration of the dispense period (88). Each of the control periods (CP1-CP20) has a duty portion during which the dispenser valve is open that is selectively varied to brew either greater or lesser amounts of beverage without varying the overall dispense period (88). Alternatively, the number of control periods is selectively changed to change the overall dispense period (88) without changing the quantity of beverage by appropriate changes to the duty portion. The quality of the resulting beverage is thereby optimized by controlling both the time of contact of the hot water with the beverage ingredient (70) and the amount of hot water that is mixed with a given amount of ingredient (70). Uniform contact of the hot water with the beverage ingredient (70) is enhanced by a uniform ingredient holder (24) That holds the ingredient in a tubular configuration beneath a uniform flow dispenser head (38) that pulses the top of the tubular configuration with a uniform spray.
An eccentrically positioned liquid trap improves coffee pour rate through a coffee pot top assembly that is retained in substantial sealing engagement with the open mount of a coffee pot by a retainer ring whose retention of the same is insensitive to variations in production tolerances.
A beverage brewer (20) with a programmable dispenser cycle dispenser valve controller (36) for controlling a dispenser valve (34) to intermittently open and close during a plurality of control periods of an intermittent dispense period (88) to selectively control the quantity of hot water that is dispensed without changing the overall duration of the dispense period (88). Each of the control periods (CP1-CP20) has a duty portion during which the dispenser valve is open that is selectively varied to brew either greater or lesser amounts of beverage without varying the overall dispense period (88). Alternatively, the number of control periods is selectively changed to change the overall dispense period (88) without changing the quantity of beverage by appropriate changes to the duty portion. The quality of the resulting beverage is thereby optimized by controlling both the time of contact of the hot water with the beverage ingredient (70) and the amount of hot water that is mixed with a given amount of ingredient (70). Uniform contact of the hot water with the beverage ingredient (70) is enhanced by a uniform ingredient holder (24) that holds the ingredient in a tubular configuration beneath a uniform flow dispenser head (38) that pulses the top of the tubular configuration with a uniform spray.
