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BR-122014016517-B1 - PROCESS FOR FORMING A SOLUBLE COFFEE PRODUCT

BR122014016517B1BR 122014016517 B1BR122014016517 B1BR 122014016517B1BR-122014016517-B1

Abstract

COFFEE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS, CONTAINERS, MACHINE AND BEVERAGE PREPARATION METHOD. Coffee grinding process comprising the steps of: a) introducing particles of a roasted coffee precursor into a grinding chamber; b) introducing particles of soluble coffee into the grinding chamber; c) spraying a gas into the grinding chamber to mobilize the particles of the roasted coffee precursor and soluble coffee; d) thereby producing a ground and blended coffee product by comminution of the roasted coffee precursor particles by self-collision of the roasted coffee precursor particles and by collision of the soluble coffee particles with the roasted coffee precursor particles inside the grinding chamber. Processes and products incorporating ground and blended coffee products are also described.

Inventors

  • GERALD O. FOUNTAIN
  • Alan Gundle
  • WON CHEAL KANG

Assignees

  • KONINKLIJKE DOUWE EGBERTS B.V

Dates

Publication Date
20260317
Application Date
20110715
Priority Date
20100716

Claims (14)

  1. 1. Process for forming a freeze-dried soluble coffee product, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: i) forming a concentrated coffee extract; ii) frothing and pre-freezing the concentrated coffee extract to form a frothed and pre-frozen coffee intermediate; iii) freezing the frothed and frozen coffee intermediate to form a frozen coffee intermediate; iv) grinding and sifting the frozen coffee intermediate to form a ground coffee intermediate; v) drying the ground coffee intermediate to form the freeze-dried soluble coffee product; wherein, prior to step ii) and/or step iii), a crushed and blended coffee intermediate is incorporated; wherein the crushed and blended coffee intermediate comprises 10% to 80% by dry weight of roasted ground coffee and 20% to 90% by dry weight of soluble coffee.
  2. 2. Process for forming a spray-dried soluble coffee product, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: i) forming a concentrated coffee extract; ii) foaming the concentrated coffee extract to form a foamed coffee intermediate; iii) optionally filtering and homogenizing the foamed coffee intermediate to form a filtered and homogenized coffee intermediate; iv) spray-drying the foamed coffee intermediate or the filtered and homogenized coffee intermediate to form the spray-dried soluble coffee product; wherein, before step ii) and/or step iv), a crushed and blended coffee intermediate is incorporated; wherein the crushed and blended coffee intermediate comprises 10% to 80% by dry weight of roasted ground coffee and 20% to 90% by dry weight of soluble coffee.
  3. 3. Process, according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the intermediate of crushed and blended coffee comprises 10% to 70% by dry weight of roasted ground coffee and 30% to 90% by dry weight of soluble coffee.
  4. 4. Process, according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the crushed and blended coffee intermediate comprises 15% to 50% by dry weight of roasted ground coffee and 50% to 85% by dry weight of soluble coffee.
  5. 5. A process, according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the intermediate of crushed and blended coffee comprises 50% by dry weight of roasted ground coffee and 50% by dry weight of soluble coffee.
  6. 6. Process, according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the crushed and blended coffee intermediate has a D90 dry particle size distribution of less than or equal to 40 microns.
  7. 7. Process, according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the crushed and blended coffee intermediate has a D90 dry particle size distribution of less than or equal to 30 microns.
  8. 8. A process, according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the spray-dried or freeze-dried coffee product comprises 5% to 30% by dry weight of roasted ground coffee and 70% to 95% by dry weight equivalent of soluble coffee.
  9. 9. A process, according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the spray-dried or freeze-dried coffee product comprises 10% to 20% by dry weight of roasted ground coffee and 80% to 90% by dry weight equivalent of soluble coffee.
  10. 10. A process, according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the spray-dried or freeze-dried coffee product comprises 15% by dry weight of roasted ground coffee and 85% by dry weight of soluble coffee.
  11. 11. A process according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the soluble coffee from the intermediate of ground and blended coffee comprises spray-dried instant coffee, freeze-dried instant coffee, or a mixture thereof.
  12. 12. Process, according to any one of claims 3 to 11, when dependent on claim 1, characterized in that the intermediate of ground coffee before drying has a total concentration of coffee solids of more than or equal to 52% and less than or equal to 63%.
  13. 13. Process, according to any one of claims 3 to 11, when dependent on claim 2, characterized in that the coffee intermediate before drying has a total coffee solids concentration of more than or equal to 52% and less than or equal to 63%.
  14. 14. Process, according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the total concentration of coffee solids is 56% to 60%.

Description

[0001] Application split from invention patent application BR112013000929-2 filed on 07/15/2011. [0002] This application relates to coffee products and processes for forming coffee products. In particular, it relates to soluble coffee products incorporating a percentage of roasted ground coffee and processes for forming such products. BACKGROUND [0003] Instant soluble coffee products, such as spray-dried and freeze-dried instant coffee, are well known. An example of a freeze-dried instant coffee is Kenco (RTM) Smooth freeze-dried coffee. Such instant soluble coffee products are formed by deriving a liquid coffee concentrate intermediate (commonly known as coffee liquor) from coffee beans through the well-known processes of roasting and extraction. Optionally, the coffee concentrate may be flavored by the addition of coffee flavorings taken from an extracted coffee intermediate, again as is well known in the art. The coffee concentrate is then subjected to various drying and foaming steps to produce a dry granulated final product that can be reconstituted into a coffee beverage by the addition of hot water. [0004] Instant soluble coffee products are popular with consumers as they provide an economical, quick and simple way to prepare a coffee beverage. However, there has been a desire to produce instant soluble coffee products that are more reminiscent of roasted ground coffee products in appearance before reconstitution and when consumed. [0005] It is known that a percentage of roasted ground coffee is incorporated into a soluble coffee product in order to try to produce a more appealing instant soluble coffee product. For example, document no. WO 2010/005604 describes several soluble coffee products, blended from ground and soluble coffee components. [0006] A problem that the present applicant has found with soluble coffee products incorporating a ground roasted coffee component is that it is difficult to adequately disperse the ground roasted coffee particles within the liquid coffee concentrate intermediate. Poor dispersion can lead to clumping of the ground roasted coffee particles in addition to the liquid coffee intermediate, resulting in unhydrated regions of ground roasted coffee that never fully “wet”. [0007] In part, in order to try to overcome the problem of poor dispersion, attempts are known to reduce the roasting and particle size of coffee to colloidal particle sizes of less than about 30 to 40 microns. For example, U.S. Patent No. 4,594,257 describes an agglomerated instant coffee product comprising spray-dried instant coffee and colloidal particles of roasted coffee having a particle size of 5 to 25 microns. [0008] However, in order to produce colloidal-sized particles of roasted ground coffee, it is necessary to use special grinding processes since the coffee oil contained in roasted ground coffee tends to be released when the particles are ground to this small size. The release of coffee oil leads to detrimental effects in the grinding process, such as agglomeration of coffee particles and incrustations on the grinding machine surfaces, thus requiring regular machine cleaning and consequent downtime. [0009] In order to overcome this problem, the use of cryogenic pre-freezing of roasted coffee beans before grinding to colloidal sizes is known. For example, in document no. WO 2010/005604, roasted coffee beans are frozen at a temperature of about -5°C and then pulverized into particles with an average or medium particle size of about 350 microns or less. In another example, document no. GB 2022394 describes a process of rapid cooling of roasted coffee beans in liquid nitrogen before grinding to a particle size of less than 45 microns. [0010] The requirement to cryogenically freeze roasted coffee beans before grinding increases the complexity and cost of the manufacturing process. [0011] Another suggestion put forward to enable colloidal grinding of roasted coffee beans is to add additional oil to the grinding mixture to provide extra lubrication. While this may, in some situations, overcome the problem of fouling of grinding machine surfaces, it results in a ground coffee product with a high oil content that is not ideal for use as a coffee intermediate for further processing into an instant soluble coffee beverage, since only a relatively small amount can be added to products without a detrimental effect on the product composition. [0012] Another solution suggested in document no. EP 1631151 is to add an additional component such as cocoa mass or sugar to absorb any coffee oil released by the roasted and ground coffee. However, this process is unsuitable when it is desired to use colloidal roasted and ground coffee in a pure soluble coffee beverage. [0013] Another known desire is to try to make the visual appearance of instant soluble coffee products more similar to that of roasted ground coffee. Typically, instant soluble coffee products are lighter in color than roasted ground coffee. The