Patent ID: 8190290

Claim:
An appliance comprising: a housing; a cylindrical dispenser supported by the housing, said cylindrical dispenser including a body which defines an opening and a plurality of outlets arranged around a bottom portion of the body and around the opening; a water supply apparatus supported by the housing and in fluid communication with the cylindrical dispenser; a container holder supported by the housing, said container holder configured to removably hold a plurality of containers; a plurality of pumps supported by the housing, and configured to operate with the water supply apparatus and the containers held by the container holder, wherein for each of the plurality of containers, the pumps are configured to cause water and a supply from said container to mix in an open space below said cylindrical dispenser to make one of a plurality of beverages; a user beverage requester supported by the housing; and a computer supported by the housing, said computer connected to the user beverage requester and configured to: (a) control the plurality of pumps to cause the dispensing of the plurality of beverages, (b) for each container, control an exact amount of the supply from the container associated with the beverage made from said supply and an exact amount of water from the water supply apparatus to mix and dispense the beverage made from said supply, and (c) track, for each container held by the container holder, a volume of the supply dispensed from said container.