Method of dispensing a beverage, a beverage preparation machine, and a system
The present invention provides a method of dispensing a beverage comprising: a) inserting a beverage ingredient tablet ( 20 ) into a beverage preparation machine ( 30 ); b) measuring a surface finish of at least a portion of the beverage ingredient tablet ( 20 ) to identify the beverage ingredient tablet; c) configuring one or more dispense parameters of the beverage preparation machine ( 30 ) based on the identification of the beverage ingredient tablet ( 20 ); and d) operating the beverage preparation machine ( 30 ) to dispense a beverage by contacting the beverage ingredient tablet ( 20 ) with an aqueous fluid.
1. A method of dispensing a beverage comprising:
a) inserting a beverage ingredient tablet into a beverage preparation machine, wherein the beverage ingredient tablet comprises a compacted powder tablet containing one or more powdered beverage ingredients that form an exterior beverage ingredient surface of the beverage ingredient tablet;
b) measuring a surface finish of at least a portion of the exterior beverage ingredient surface of the beverage ingredient tablet rather than any separate element to identify the beverage ingredient tablet;
c) configuring one or more dispense parameters of the beverage preparation machine based on the identification of the beverage ingredient tablet; and
d) operating the beverage preparation machine to dispense a beverage by contacting the beverage ingredient tablet with an aqueous fluid to dissolve the tablet.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more dispense parameters are selected from the group comprising: temperature of the aqueous fluid; volume of the aqueous fluid dispensed; flow rate of the aqueous fluid; pressure of the aqueous fluid; and presence or absence of a pre-wet stage.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein measuring the surface finish comprises measuring one or more of: the colour of the surface, the reflectance of the surface, the roughness of the surface, and a pattern on the surface.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein measurement of the surface finish is a non-contact measurement.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the non-contact measurement comprises one or more of interferometry, confocal microscopy, focus variation, structured light scanning, electrical capacitance, colorimetry, and photogrammetry.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beverage ingredient tablet inserted into the beverage preparation machine has been unwrapped.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beverage ingredient tablet comprises a simple tablet without any additional elements.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of unwrapping the beverage ingredient tablet before the step of inserting the beverage ingredient tablet into the beverage preparation machine.