초록 ▼

Typical current methods for producing large quantities of extracts from solid raw materials such as ground, roasted coffee are designed for exhaustive extraction. Such methods are not ideally suited to producing high quality coffee extracts that are rich in flavor and fragrance, and which maintain t

Typical current methods for producing large quantities of extracts from solid raw materials such as ground, roasted coffee are designed for exhaustive extraction. Such methods are not ideally suited to producing high quality coffee extracts that are rich in flavor and fragrance, and which maintain the varietal characteristics of the roasted coffee from which they are produced. The current invention provides methods for producing such high quality extracts. The invention provides methods that have sufficient flexibility and scalability to be used for a wide variety of applications, including for producing industrial-scale quantities of extracts for the food and beverage industry. The invention provides methods that can produce highly concentrated, “gourmet quality” extracts for use as flavoring agents, beverage concentrates, and fragrances. The inventive extraction methods, in some embodiments, involve subjecting roasted coffee to a static pressure treatment with pressurized solvent and/or removing extract from the bed of roasted coffee with a non-solvent gas as a final extraction step. The inventive methods can reduce the extent of extraction of the roasted coffee and the level of bitter, off-flavor components present in the coffee extracts.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A method of extracting a consumable material from a solid raw material comprising acts of:adding an aqueous solvent and a quantity of solid raw material to a vessel via one or more existing openings;sealing the vessel;pressurizing the combination of the aqueous solvent and the

What is claimed is: 1. A method of extracting a consumable material from a solid raw material comprising acts of:adding an aqueous solvent and a quantity of solid raw material to a vessel via one or more existing openings;sealing the vessel;pressurizing the combination of the aqueous solvent and the quantity of solid raw material initially at essentially atmospheric pressure to a pressure level of at least about 50 psig in the vessel;maintaining the pressure level for a desired period of time under non-flow conditions; andcommencing a flow of an aqueous extract from the quantity of solid raw material through an outlet line of the vessel while the pressure in the vessel exceeds atmospheric pressure.