Beverage precursor and method of making same
The invention provides porous tea granules including leaf tea particles and binder, wherein at least 50% by weight of the leaf tea particles have a particle size of 100 μm to 300 μm; the binder is a tea-based binder including tea solids; the tea granules including binder in an amount of 1 to 40% by dry weight; and the porous tea granules have a D[4,3] of more than 350 μm.
1. Porous tea granules comprising leaf tea particles and binder, wherein:
at least 50% by weight of the leaf tea particles have a particle size of 100 μm to 300 μm;
the binder is a tea-based binder comprising tea solids;
the tea granules comprise binder in an amount of 1 to 40% by dry weight; and
the porous tea granules have a D[4,3] of more than 350 μm.
2. The porous tea granules as claimed in claim 1 wherein the binder is a tea extract or a tea juice.
3. The porous tea granules as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tea granules comprise binder in an amount of 10 to 25% by dry weight.
4. The porous tea granules as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the leaf tea particles are ground leaf tea particles.
5. The porous tea granules as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the leaf tea having a particle size of 100 μm to 300 μm is black leaf tea.
6. The porous tea granules as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the porous tea granules have a D[4,3] of more than 450 μm.
7. A beverage precursor comprising the porous tea granules as claimed in claim 1 .
8. The beverage precursor as claimed in claim 7 wherein the beverage precursor additionally comprises leaf tea wherein at least 90% by weight of the leaf tea has a particle size of −5+30 mesh.
9. The beverage precursor as claimed in claim 8 wherein the weight ratio of porous tea granules to leaf tea is from 5:1 to 1:5.
10. The beverage precursor as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the beverage precursor is packaged in an infusion packet.
11. The beverage precursor as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the beverage precursor has a mass of 1 g to 4 g.
12. A process for manufacturing porous tea granules, the process comprising the steps of:
(a) providing leaf tea;
(b) grinding and/or sieving the leaf tea such that at least 50% by weight of the leaf tea has a particle size of 100 to 300 am;
(c) forming a mixture comprising the leaf tea obtained in step (b) and binder;
(d) forming porous granules from the mixture by low-shear granulation;
wherein the porous tea granules have a D[4,3] of more than 350 am and wherein the binder is a tea-based binder comprising tea solids.
13. The process as claimed in claim 12 wherein steps (c) and (d) are performed simultaneously.
14. The process for manufacturing a beverage precursor wherein porous tea granules as claimed in claim 1 are combined with leaf tea, wherein at least 90% by weight of the leaf tea has a particle size of −5+30 mesh.
15. The process as claimed in claim 14 wherein the beverage precursor is packaged in an infusion packet.