Patent ID: 8609170

Claim:
A method for forming a beverage, comprising: providing a beverage brewer that includes a brew chamber for receiving a beverage cartridge, a reservoir for holding beverage precursor liquid and a heating tank for heating beverage precursor liquid, the beverage brewer being constructed and arranged to introduce the precursor liquid into the beverage cartridge and form a beverage; providing beverage precursor liquid into the reservoir; opening of the brew chamber of the brewer to expose a cartridge receiver to receive a beverage cartridge in association with the brew chamber; in response to opening of the brew chamber, automatically opening a valve to permit beverage precursor liquid to flow from the reservoir into the heating tank; placing a beverage cartridge in the cartridge receiver; closing the brew chamber to at least partially enclose the beverage cartridge in the brew chamber; and in response to closing the brew chamber, automatically closing the valve to stop the flow of beverage precursor liquid from the reservoir to the heating tank.