Apparatus And Method Of Multi-Course Infusion For Brewing Tea And Other Beverages

Abstract

Various embodiments of an apparatus and method of multi-course infusion for brewing tea and other beverages are provided. In one aspect, a method of multi-course infusion for brewing tea and other beverages may receive, in an infusion chamber of an apparatus, an amount of beverage medium in dried state. The method may also provide steam into the infusion chamber to pre-condition the beverage medium. The method may further perform multi-course infusion of the beverage medium in hot water by repeating more than once a process that includes: showering hot water down onto the beverage medium in the infusion chamber, infusing the beverage medium in the hot water for some infusion time to form the beverage, providing steam into the infusion chamber while the beverage medium is infused in the hot water, drawing the beverage into one or more carafes after the infusion time has elapsed.

1 . A method of multi-course infusion for brewing tea and other beverages, comprising:
 receiving, in an infusion chamber of an apparatus, an amount of beverage medium in a dried state;   providing steam into the infusion chamber to pre-condition the beverage medium;   performing multi-course infusion of the beverage medium in hot water by repeating more than once a process, with one or more of a temperature for infusion, an amount of time for infusion, and an amount of hot water for infusion being different between one cycle and another cycle of the process, the process comprising:
 initiating a respective course of infusion by showering a respective amount of hot water at a respective temperature between 20° C. and 90° C. down onto the beverage medium in the infusion chamber; 
 infusing the beverage medium in the respective amount of hot water for a respective duration of infusion time to form a beverage; 
 providing steam into the infusion chamber while the beverage medium is infused in the hot water; 
 drawing the beverage from the infusion chamber into one or more carafes after the respective duration of infusion time has elapsed; and 
 optionally resting the beverage medium in the infusion chamber for a respective duration of resting time. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the providing of the steam into the infusion chamber to pre-condition the beverage medium comprises providing the steam into the infusion chamber from air orifices at a bottom of the infusion chamber and from orifices on a central shaft of the infusion chamber. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the initiating of the respective course of infusion by showering the respective amount of hot water at the respective temperature down onto the beverage medium in the infusion chamber comprises showering a first amount of hot water at 85° C. from orifices on an upper portion of a central shaft of the infusion chamber. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing of the multi-course infusion of the beverage medium comprises:
 initiating a first course of infusion by showering a first amount of hot water at a first temperature down onto the beverage medium in the infusion chamber;   infusing the beverage medium in the first amount of hot water for a first duration of infusion time to form a first beverage;   providing steam into the infusion chamber while the beverage medium is infused in the first amount of hot water during the first duration of infusion time;   drawing the first beverage from the infusion chamber into one or more carafes of the apparatus after the first duration of infusion time has elapsed;   resting the beverage medium in the infusion chamber for a first duration of resting time;   initiating a second course of infusion by showering a second amount of hot water at a second temperature down onto the beverage medium in the infusion chamber, the second temperature may be the same or may be different from the first temperature;   infusing the beverage medium in the second amount of hot water for a second duration of infusion time to form a second beverage, the second duration of infusion time may be the same or may be different from the first duration of infusion time;   providing steam into the infusion chamber while the beverage medium is infused in the second amount of hot water during the second duration of infusion time;   drawing the second beverage from the infusion chamber into the one or more carafes of the apparatus after the second duration of infusion time has elapsed; and   optionally resting the beverage medium in the infusion chamber for a second duration of resting time.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 initiating a third course of infusion by showering a third amount of hot water at a third temperature down onto the beverage medium in the infusion chamber, the third temperature being the same as or different from the first temperature and the second temperature;   infusing the beverage medium in the third amount of hot water for a third duration of infusion time to form a third beverage, the third duration of infusion time being the same as or different from the first and second durations of infusion time;   providing steam into the infusion chamber while the beverage medium is infused in the third amount of hot water during the third duration of infusion time; and   drawing the third beverage from the infusion chamber into the one or more carafes of the apparatus after the third duration of infusion time has elapsed.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the first, second and third durations of time are different, and wherein the first, second and third temperatures are different. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing of the multi-course infusion of the beverage medium comprises:
 providing different amounts of hot water at different temperatures; and   infusing the beverage medium in the hot water for different durations of time for different courses of infusion according to one or more recipes.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more recipes comprise a first recipe and a second recipe, wherein the first recipe is formed by a user during operation of the apparatus, and wherein the second recipe is downloaded from an external device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 continuously updating at least one of the one or more recipes based on a usage history of a user.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing of the multi-course infusion of the beverage medium comprises:
 receiving a command from a remote device; and   performing the multi-course infusion of the beverage medium in response to receiving the command,   wherein the receiving of the command from the remote device comprises receiving the command from the remote device via a wireless communication mechanism, a wired communication mechanism, or a combination thereof.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the drawing of the beverage from the infusion chamber into the one or more carafes after the respective duration of infusion time has elapsed comprises drawing a first amount of the beverage from the infusion chamber into at least a first carafe of the one or more carafes for a first cycle of the process and drawing a second amount of the beverage from the infusion chamber into at least a second carafe of the one or more carafes for a second cycle of the process. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus capable of multi-course infusion for brewing tea and other beverages, comprising:
 an infusion chamber configured to receive an amount of beverage medium, steam and hot water therein to infuse the beverage medium in the hot water to form a beverage;   a water steam hybrid heating chamber (WSHHC) configured to heat a liquid therein to provide steam and hot water;   one or more carafes configured to receive the beverage from the infusion chamber; and   a processing unit coupled to control at least the infusion chamber and the WSHHC to perform operations comprising:
 providing steam from the WSHHC into the infusion chamber to pre-condition the beverage medium; and 
 performing multi-course infusion of the beverage medium in hot water by repeating more than once a process, with one or more of a temperature for infusion, an amount of time for infusion, and an amount of hot water for infusion different between one cycle and another cycle of the process, the process comprising:
 initiating a respective course of infusion by showering a respective amount of hot water at a respective temperature between 20° C. and 90° C. down onto the beverage medium in the infusion chamber; 
 infusing the beverage medium in the respective amount of hot water for a respective duration of infusion time to form the beverage; 
 providing steam into the infusion chamber while the beverage medium is infused in the hot water; 
 drawing the beverage from the infusion chamber into the one or more carafes after the respective duration of infusion time has elapsed; and 
 optionally resting the beverage medium in the infusion chamber for a respective duration of resting time. 
 
   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the processing unit is configured to provide different amounts of hot water at different temperatures and infuse the beverage medium in the hot water for different durations of time for different courses of infusion according to one or more recipes. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more recipes comprises a first recipe and a second recipe, wherein the first recipe is formed by a user during operation of the apparatus, and wherein the second recipe is downloaded from an external device. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the infusion chamber comprises a container, a shaft and a base, wherein the container comprises an inner layer and an outer layer joined at the base by a collar, wherein the shaft comprises an inner shaft nested within an exterior shaft, with the inner shaft having a mushroom cap at a distal end thereof and the outer shaft having an umbrella cap at a distal end thereof, and wherein the base comprises one or more screens with one or more orifices thereon to allow air, liquid and suspended solids smaller than a size of the one or more orifices to flow in and out of the infusion chamber. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the WSHHC comprises a tank and at least one heating element, wherein the tank comprises an upper chamber and a main chamber with one or more slots on the upper chamber to allow a liquid to flow from the upper chamber to the main chamber, and wherein the at least one heating element is configured to heat the liquid in the upper chamber. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the WSHHC further comprises:
 a pressure relief valve configured to open at a preset pressure to equalize a pressure in the WSHHC with an atmospheric pressure;   a temperature-based electrical kill-switch configured to measure an internal temperature of the WSHHC and cut off power to the at least one heating element in response to the internal temperature reaching a preset temperature; and   a plurality of sensors coupled to the processing unit and configured to measure at least a level of liquid in the WSHHC such that the processing unit is configured to cut off power to the at least one heating element in response to the level of liquid exceeding an preset level.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one of the one or more carafes comprises an internal heating element configured to operate via magnetic resonance heating. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a network communication unit coupled to and controlled by the processing unit such that, via the network communication unit, the processing unit is configured to communicate with one or more communicating devices to receive and provide one or more recipes of brewing one or more types of beverage.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 an user interface unit coupled to and controlled by the processing unit such that, via the user interface unit, the processing unit is configured to provide information to a user and receive one or more user commands from the user.