Abstract:
Methods are disclosed of providing a beverage serving to a customer. An indication of a color selected by the customer from a chart is received. The beverage serving is produced with a base beverage and at least one additive in a proportion that causes the beverage serving to have a color approximating the selected color. The produced beverage serving is delivered to the customer.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a nonprovisional of, and claims the benefit of the filing date of, U.S. Prov. Pat. Appl. No. 60/873,868, entitled “SELECTION OF COFFEE MIXTURES,” by Eileen D. Turgeon, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This application relates generally to the production of beverages. More specifically, this application relates to providing a mechanism for customers purchasing beverages to select a mixture proportion for the beverage. 
         [0003]    In some embodiments, the invention relates specifically to the production of coffee beverages. In recent years, there has been a significant upsurge in the sales of prepared coffee to customers, with customers now able to purchase prepared coffee in a variety of different venues. Some of these venues include walk-in corner shops, drive-through coffee shops, and coffee shops disposed with buildings that accommodate other businesses. In preparing coffee for customers, one difficulty that is encountered is providing the coffee with the specific amount of creamer and sugar that the customer desires. Customers have very different tastes and can be quite particular in wishing their coffee to be prepared with the correct proportions of these additives. 
         [0004]    Similar issues may arise in the sales of other types of beverages that where different customers have varying preferences for the addition of additives. 
         [0005]    There is accordingly a general need in the art for an efficient mechanism to allow selections of beverage mixture proportions. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Embodiments of the invention provide methods providing a beverage serving to a customer. An indication of a color selected by the customer from a chart is received. The beverage serving is produced comprising a base beverage and at least one additive in a proportion that causes the beverage serving to have a color approximating the selected color. The produced beverage serving is delivered to the customer. 
         [0007]    In some instances, the chart comprises a plurality of colors ordered from a lighter hue to a darker hue. The chart may include a plurality of identifiers, with each identifier being associated with one of the plurality of colors. The indication of the color selected by the customer comprises receiving one of the plurality of identifiers. 
         [0008]    In certain embodiments, the indication of the color selected by the customer is received at a device. The color selected by the customer may then be communicated from the device to a clerk. Alternatively, the beverage serving may be prepared in the proportion that causes the beverage serving to have a color approximating the selected color with the device. 
         [0009]    In a specific embodiment, the base beverage comprises coffee and the additive comprises a creamer. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the several drawings to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sublabel is associated with a reference numeral and follows a hyphen to denote one of multiple similar components. When reference is made to a reference numeral without specification to an existing sublabel, it is intended to refer to all such multiple similar components. 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a flow diagram summarizing methods of the invention in different embodiments; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is an example of a selection card that may be used in implementing embodiments of the invention; and 
           [0013]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  are schematic illustrations of systems that may be used to implement methods of the invention in different embodiments. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    Embodiments of the invention make use of a selection card that may be provided to customers in selecting a desired beverage mixture. The selection card makes use of the fact that certain combinations of base beverages and additives result in color changes of the mixture that may be correlated with the mixture concentrations. In the foregoing description, specific reference is sometimes made to coffee servings in which the beverage mixture comprises a mixture of coffee and creamer. Such references are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting, with mixtures of coffee and creamer providing an example of beverage mixtures that experience color changes correlated with the mixture concentrations. In such examples, indicating the desired color of a coffee serving acts as a surrogate for indicating the desired proportion of creamer to be included in the coffee serving. As used herein, the term “creamer” is used broadly. It refers to any dairy additive conventionally added to coffee servings, including synthetic dairy additives. The term thus encompasses such additives as cream, milk, microencapsulated plant-oil powders, and other similar additives. 
         [0015]    A general overview of methods of the invention for certain embodiments is provided with the flow diagram of  FIG. 1 . The flow diagram includes certain specific steps that may be performed and includes an exemplary order for performing them, but this is not intended to be limiting. In other embodiments, additional steps that are not explicitly indicated may be performed or other steps may be omitted. In addition, steps may sometimes be performed in a order that differs from the specific order identified in the drawing. 
         [0016]    At block  104 , a customer requests a beverage serving. Such a request may take a variety of different forms, including being communicated directly to a human being or being communicated instead to a device. For example, requests communicated to human beings may take place at such venues as a walk-in or drive-through coffee shop. Requests communicated to a device may include such requests as those made to automated beverage dispensing machines or to devices that act as interfaces to human beings at beverage-production locations. To indicate the desired beverage mixture, the customer is presented with a mixture chart at block  108 . Such a chart may take the form of a portable chart that may be handed to the customer or may be provided as a panel displayed on a nonportable device. 
         [0017]    The chart typically has a plurality of color selections that correspond to an approximate color of the beverage mixture when it includes a beverage base and additives in the desired proportions. In addition, each of the color selections will usually have an identifier associated with it so that the customer may identify the selected identifier to indicate the desired beverage mixture. 
         [0018]    This is illustrated, for example, in  FIG. 2  with a mixture chart suitable for making selections of coffee beverages with a certain amount of creamer added. The different colors are shades of brown that vary from a coffee beverage that has no creamer additive to a coffee beverage having a large amount of creamer additive. In this particular embodiment, the mixture chart  200  has three color selections  208 , although a different number of color selections may be used in other embodiments. Each of the color selections has a corresponding identifier  204  in the form of arabic numerals, although other identifiers may be used in other embodiments, including the use of roman letters, pictograms, or any other suitable identifiers. 
         [0019]    The customer makes a selection of the desired color from the chart at block  112 , usually communicating his selection in the same manner as the beverage serving was requested at block  104 . For example, if the beverage request was communicated directly to a human being, the identification of the desired color for the beverage mixture will usually also be communicated directly to a human being. And if the beverage request was communicated through a machine interface, the identification of the desired color may be similarly communicated. 
         [0020]    The beverage is prepared at block  116  with additives provided in a proportion that will approximate the selected color of the beverage. Preparation of the beverage may also be performed by human beings directly or may be prepared using a device depending on the specific nature of the beverage and different embodiments being implemented. After being prepared, the beverage serving is delivered to the customer at block  120 . 
         [0021]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  provide examples of structures shown in a schematic manner of how devices may be used in embodiments of the invention. These specific illustrations are merely provided for exemplary purposes and other configurations may be used in other embodiments. Furthermore, as previously noted, some embodiments may not use a device of any kind, with all interactions taking place between human beings. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3A  illustrates an embodiment in which a device is used to communicate between a customer  304  and a clerk  316 . Such a device might be used at a walk-in or drive-up beverage shop where the customer  304  is able to enter ordering and color-selection information through an interface with the device. In its simplest form, such a device may comprise an input device  308  with which the customer  304  interacts and a business display device  312  that displays the customer requests to the clerk  316 . In such a configuration, the input device  308  and the business display device  312  are connected with some kind of communications link. The clerk  316  uses the information obtained from the customer  304  in this way to prepare the beverage to approximate the desired color as described above. 
         [0023]      FIG. 3B  illustrates an embodiment in which a device is used to prepare the beverage  332  itself. In this arrangement, a customer  320  interacts with an input device  324  in a manner similar to that of  FIG. 3A , but information obtained by the input device  324  is used by a beverage preparation device  328  to prepare the beverage  332  in accordance with the specified color. In such an embodiment, the beverage preparation device  328  will usually have a preconfigured specification of relative amounts of base beverage and additive to be included and will prepare the beverage  332  in accordance with that specification. 
         [0024]    Thus, having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those of skill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined in the following claims.