Abstract:
Disclosed is a frozen additive for use with a heated beverage including a frozen liquid made from substantially the same ingredients as the heated beverage. Further disclosed is a system for cooling a heated beverage including a container holding a heated beverage with a first concentration of ingredients and a frozen additive with a second concentration of ingredients. In the system the second concentration of ingredients is substantially the same as the first concentration of ingredients. Also disclosed is a method of cooling a heated beverage including the steps of: providing a heated beverage having a first concentration of ingredients; providing a frozen additive having a second concentration of ingredients; and combining the heated beverage and the frozen additive to form a beverage having a third concentration of ingredients, wherein the third concentration of ingredients is substantially the same as the first concentration of materials.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present subject matter relates to a frozen additive for use with a heated beverage. More specifically, the present subject matter relates to a frozen flavored additive for cooling a heated beverage.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     Heated beverages, such as, for example coffee, tea or hot chocolate, were often served at a temperature that was higher than desired by consumers for consumption. In order to avoid discomfort, or even injury, it was often necessary to cool a heated beverage prior to consumption. There were two common procedures for cooling beverages. The first method was to allow the beverage to cool towards the ambient temperature over a period of time. One problem associated with this first method was the length of time required to cool the beverage. The second method was to insert ice cubes into the beverage to rapidly reduce the temperature of the heated beverage. Unfortunately, this second method resulted in dilution of the heated beverage.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0003]     The present subject matter discloses a frozen additive for use with a heated beverage. The frozen additive may be approximately the same concentration of ingredients as the heated beverage to enable the frozen additive to cool the heated beverage without substantially diluting the heated beverage. Alternatively, the frozen additive may comprise a substantially higher concentration as the heated beverage to give the beverage a concentration boost while cooling. In another embodiment, the frozen additive may utilize different ingredients to alter the flavor or content of the ingredients in the heated beverage as it is cooled. In yet another embodiment, the frozen additives may be packaged with ingredients used to make the heated beverage. The present subject matter further relates to a method of cooling a heated beverage with any of the above-mentioned frozen additives. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0004]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a frozen additive and a heated beverage.  
         [0005]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a tray for delivering frozen additives.  
         [0006]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart depicting a method of utilizing a frozen additive with a heated beverage 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates a heated beverage  10  in a container  12 . The heated beverage  10  shown in  FIG. 1  is coffee. However, for purposes of the present subject matter the heated beverage  10  may alternatively be any flavored beverage (i.e., not simply water) that may be consumed at a temperature above the ambient temperature, such as, for example, espresso, latte, cappuccino, mocha, apple cider, hot chocolate, tea, etc.  
         [0008]     As commonly occurs when preparing the heated beverage  10  for consumption, the temperature of the heated beverage  10  is often raised above the desired consumption temperature. Raising the temperature of the heated beverage beyond the desired temperature may occur intentionally or unintentionally. It is recognized that the temperature desired for consumption is subjective and, accordingly, may vary from person to person. Therefore, even if the heated beverage  10  is raised to a predetermined temperature, that temperature may exceed the desired temperature for a particular use or consumer. It is further recognized that the desired temperature may fall within a range of temperatures and often does not lend itself to precise calculation.  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  further illustrates a frozen additive  14  for use with the heated beverage  10 . While the frozen additive  14  depicted in  FIG. 1  is substantially in the form of a cube, any shape that will accomplish the goals of this invention is contemplated. The frozen additive  14  shown in  FIG. 1  is a coffee based frozen additive  14  made from substantially the same composition of ingredients as the heated beverage  10 . The frozen additive  14  may be combined with the heated beverage  10  to lower the temperature of the heated beverage  14  towards a desired temperature. Unlike using ice cubes to cool the heated beverage  10 , use of the frozen additive  14  does not substantially dilute the heated beverage  10  from its initial concentration. In order to maximize the cooling benefits and minimize the dilution of the heated beverage, it may be desirable to prepare the heated beverage  10  and the frozen additive  14  from a single source of ingredients. Depending upon the temperature of the heated beverage  10 , one or more of the frozen additives  14  may be added to the heated beverage  10  to bring the temperature of the heated beverage to the desired temperature or into the desired range of temperatures without significantly altering the composition of the heated beverage  10 .  
         [0010]     While the frozen additive  14  shown in  FIG. 1  is frozen coffee, the frozen additive may be made from any composition of ingredients, including any beverage that may be consumed after being heated, such as, for example, espresso, latte, cappuccino, mocha, apple cider, hot chocolate, tea, etc. To maintain the benefit of not diluting or substantially altering the concentration of the heated beverage  10 , the frozen additive  14  can be made from approximately the same ingredients as the heated beverage  10 . For example, a tea based frozen additive  14  could be mixed with a tea based heated beverage  10 . It is recognized that an identical match of ingredients and composition of ingredients is not required to enjoy the benefits of the present invention. For example, it has been determined that combining an espresso based frozen additive  14  with a coffee based heated beverage  10  does not substantially alter the composition of the heated beverage  10 . In other words, combining the coffee based heated beverage  10  and the espresso based frozen additive  14  forms a beverage having a concentration of ingredients that is substantially the same as the concentration of ingredients in the initial coffee based heated beverage  10 .  
         [0011]     Alternatively, the frozen additive  14  may be made from a beverage other than what is used as the heated beverage  10 . As a result of using different frozen additive  14 , various flavors or ingredients may be added to the heated beverage  10 . For example, it may be desirable to combine a flavored frozen additive  14  with a coffee based heated beverage  10 , thereby adding flavor to the heated beverage  10 .  
         [0012]     Additionally, the frozen additive  14  may be produced in varying concentrations to appeal to customers wanting to subtly affect the flavor and/or ingredients of the heated beverage  10  while substantially maintaining the composition of ingredients of the heated beverage  10 . For example, a coffee based frozen additive  14  may be produced in “light,” “regular” and “strong” concentrations to enable one to increase or decrease the concentration of caffeine in a coffee based heated beverage  10 . For example, a “strong” 0  coffee frozen additive  14  may be used to increase the flavor and/or caffeine concentration in a coffee based heated beverage  10 . Additionally, other flavors, vitamins or other ingredients could be incorporated into the frozen additive  14  to be used with the heated beverage  10 . For example, vitamin C, zinc, protein, creatine (or other health and exercise related supplements) may be incorporated into a frozen additive  14  to be used with a tea or apple based heated beverage  10  to provide a consumer with certain vitamins or minerals.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  illustrates a container  16  for storing the frozen additive  14  shown in  FIG. 1 . The container  16  shown in  FIG. 2  is an example of a package for storing a number of frozen additives  14  in a single package. The container  16  shown in  FIG. 2  includes a tray portion  18 , having a number of serving cups  20  for separating the frozen additives  14  one from the others. The size and shape of the container  16 , as well as the number of serving cups  20 , may vary as desired. The container  16  also includes a lid portion  22 , which may be vacuum sealed to the tray portion  18  to maintain a seal along each of the serving cups  20 . For illustrative purposes, the lid portion  22  of the container  16  in  FIG. 2  does not cover two of the serving cups  20  to help demonstrate how the unsealed tray portion  18  appears in this embodiment of the container  16 . As further shown in  FIG. 2 , the lid portion  22  may be weakened between the serving cups  20  such that the serving cups  20  may be individually exposed and removed from the container  16  without disturbing the seal of the remaining serving cups  20 .  
         [0014]     Depending upon the ingredients used, it may be possible to package the frozen additives  14  in the container  16  in an non-refrigerated and non-frozen state. A user of the frozen additives  14  would then place the container  16  or serving cups  20  removed from the container  16  in a freezer prior to use with a heated beverage  10 . The serving cups  20  may comprise uniform concentration throughout the container or, alternatively, varying concentration to provide a variety pack.  
         [0015]     It may be useful to package some or all of the ingredients used to make the heated beverage  10  in a kit that includes one or more prepackaged servings of the frozen additive  14  in a frozen, or unfrozen, state. For example, ground coffee used to make a the heated beverage  10  may be packaged in a kit with a container  16  comprising serving cups filled with coffee additive. The various frozen additives  14  may be used to tailor the flavor and/or concentration of the ingredients in the heated beverage  10 . For example, ground coffee used to make a the heated beverage  10  may be packaged in a kit with coffee based frozen additives  14  of varying strengths to enable various combinations of the heated beverage  10  and the frozen additives  14  to be produced. Accordingly, a decaffeinated coffee based frozen additive  14  could be packaged with ingredients to make a caffeinated coffee based heated beverage  10 . The decaffeinated coffee based frozen additive  14  could be used to dilute the strength of the caffeine concentration in the heated beverage  10 . In another example, the frozen additives  14  packaged with the ingredients for making the heated beverage  10  may incorporate various flavors, such as vanilla, cocoa, hazelnut, etc. to enable production of heated beverages  10  of varying flavors.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart depicting a method of cooling a heated beverage  24  using the frozen additive  14  and the heated beverage  10  of the present subject matter. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the method of cooling a heated beverage  24  includes the step of providing a heated beverage  10  having a first concentration of ingredients  26 . As further shown in  FIG. 3 , the method of cooling a heated beverage  24  includes the step of providing a frozen additive  14  having a second concentration of ingredients  28 . The second concentration of ingredients may be approximately the same as the first concentration of ingredients to prevent substantial dilution of the heated beverage  10 . The method of cooling a heated beverage  24  further includes the step of combining the heated beverage  10  and the frozen additive  14  forming a beverage having a third concentration of ingredients  30 . As discussed above, when the frozen additive  14  is approximately the same concentration of ingredients as the heated beverage  10 , the resulting concentration of ingredients in the resulting beverage  10  will be substantially the same as the initial concentration of ingredients in the heated beverage  10 .  
         [0017]     It should be noted that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages.