The present invention relates to beverage containers, and, more specifically, to an infuser that has multiple baskets for multiple uses and purposes.
Coffee and tea pots have been used for centuries to brew coffee or tea. The common method has been pouring hot water over the coffee grinds or tea leafs, and allowing the water to infuse and extract the soluble solids from the brew product. A later improvement provided a straining means located near the opening's neck permitting the brewing to take place without having to sift the brew leftover from the beverage. This improvement was advantageous but required removing the straining device prior to pouring. This drawback has been overcome with a cap that comprises both an opening for pouring the beverage and an opening for the strainer/infuser.
As people get busier, they do not have time for brewing a perfect cup of coffee or tea notwithstanding a brewing pot that conveniently separates the brew leftover and the brew. Furthermore, they also want to keep their beverages warmer longer so they can get the best tastes. These desires have been met with a vacuum mug, or thermal mug, that insulates the beverage inside from the temperature outside, and has become a modern convenience that busy coffee or tea drinkers cannot function without. A vacuum mug with a cap that comprises both a strainer or infuser, and an opening for sipping has allowed a coffee or tea drinker to brew her coffee or tea on the go as if the user takes a brewing pot with her. The vacuum mug keeps the hot water hot, so the coffee or tea inside the strainer or infuser has time to brew while the user travels to the workplace.
The more convenient and functionally better vacuum mugs get, the more often people use them. Thus, naturally, they want their mugs to be ever larger or taller, to contain larger quantity of their drinks, so that they do not have to refill their mugs so often. Since the mugs are getting larger, they post a problem of inconsistent quality of the brewed beverage. For example, over extraction, due to brewing ground coffee in consistently hot water for a long period, results in intensely bitter coffee, while under extracted coffee, due to cooler water and/or shorter brewing period, is usually sour and lacking in complexity. With a larger or taller mug, this problem will be exacerbated where a small strainer/filter is attached under the cap near the top, and half empty beverage is at the bottom of the tall mug, and the brewing stops when the user drinks too fast. This scenario is actually common when people are busier.
However, a single deep filter will not be a good solution either because the entire amount of the brew product stay submerged at the bottom of the filter, and the longer the coffee or tea is submerged in the water, the longer the brewing time and, thus, the more likely an over extraction, and bitter beverages. Thus, it is desirable that the user has some finer control of the brewing.
Furthermore, for drinkers who like to add flavor ingredients to their beverages, they do not have a way to add the flavor ingredients except putting the ingredients directly into the coffee or tea leaves before brewing. In some instances, mixing flavor ingredients and brew product Is not desirable. In other instances, submerging the flavor ingredients in the beverage for a long period is not desirable. Perhaps, in these instances the drinker only wants a mild flavor.
Since a mug can keep both cold and hot beverage colder or warmer, respectively, longer than without one, a user can perhaps use it for hot coffee or tea in the morning and cold soda in the afternoon. In this use scenario, however, the user needs a versatile mug that allows hot and cold beverages, and, furthermore, a finer control of the temperature of the beverages so they can get the best tastes. Therefore, it is desirable for a strainer or infuser that could accommodate all the foregoing desired features of a modern mug or cup.
Currently, no mugs on the market offered this versatility and the features. Therefore, it is desirable to have a spill-proof and versatile cap to increase the utility of a mug.
Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to create a mug cap that is versatile, multi-functional, and, thus, increases its utility.
It is the object of this invention to create a mug cap that allows mobile brewing brew products.
It is the object of this invention to create a mug infuser that is versatile allowing mobile brewing of diverse brew products and ingredients.
It is an object of the invention to create a mug infuser that is configurable to brew multiple ingredients.
It is an object of the invention to create a mug cap that is spill-proof and versatile.
It is an object of the invention to create a mug with a cap that fits a coffee or tea POD machine.
A modular filter for a mug comprises a mug cap and a first filter basket. The mug cap has a bottom opening and a threaded wall. The modular filter further comprises a first cylindrical connector having a first and second opening, and a circular screen filter positioned between the first and second opening. The bottom opening of the mug cap is attached to the first opening of the cylindrical connector, and the filter basket is attached to the second opening of the cylindrical connector. The first filter basket is comprised of a cylinder having a cylindrical screen filter, a top opening and a bottom base. The top opening is attached to the second opening of the cylindrical connector. The bottom base is comprised of filtration holes.
In one embodiment, the modular filter further comprises a second cylindrical connector having a first and second opening, and a circular screen filter positioned between the first and second opening. The first filter basket is attached to the first opening of the second cylindrical connector and a second filter basket is attached to the second opening of the second cylindrical connector. The second filter basket is comprised of a cylinder having a cylindrical screen filter, a top opening and bottom base. Its top opening is attached to the second opening of the second cylindrical connector. The bottom base is comprised of filtration holes.
In another embodiment, the modular filter further comprises a third cylindrical connector having a first and second opening, and a circular screen filter positioned between the first and second opening. The second filter basket is attached to the first opening of the third cylindrical connector, and a third filter basket is attached to the second opening of the third cylindrical connector. The third filter basket is comprised of a cylinder having cylindrical screen filter, a top opening and a bottom base. Its top opening is attached to the second opening of the third cylindrical connector. The bottom base is comprised of filtration holes.
In another embodiment, the cylindrical screen filter of the first filter basket is comprised of circular filtration holes.
In another embodiment, the cylindrical screen filter of the first filter basket is comprised of elongated filtration slits.
In another embodiment, the cylindrical screen filter of the second filter basket is comprised of circular filtration holes.
In another embodiment, the cylindrical screen filter of the second filter basket is comprised of elongated filtration slits.
In another embodiment, the modular filter further comprises a cylindrical cooling stick suitable for fitting within the first filter basket.
In another embodiment, the modular filter further comprises a cylindrical cooling stick suitable for fitting within the second filter basket.
In another embodiment, the modular filter further comprises a cylindrical cooling stick suitable for fitting within the third filter basket.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will not be described with reference to the drawings of certain preferred embodiments, which are intended to illustrate and not to limit the invention, and in which
Some embodiments are described in detail with reference to the related drawings. Additional embodiments, features, and/or advantages will become apparent from the ensuing description or may be learned by practicing the invention. The following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of the invention. The steps described herein for performing methods form one embodiment of the invention, and, unless otherwise indicated, not all of the steps must necessarily be performed to practice the invention, nor must the steps necessarily be performed in the order listed. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” or “some” embodiment(s) in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.
The present invention has been conceived with the aim of addressing one or more of the current mug or cup infusers' limitations. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a mug cap that is spill-proof, versatile, and multi-functional to solve the current limitations.
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