The invention relates to a plastic container, which houses salt or other drink garnishes, and is provided for use and in combination with various drink mixes or mixers such as prepared Bloody Mary and Margarita mixes, wherein the garnish container is removably mountable to the mixer container.
In preparing various types of mixed drinks, a drink is prepared in a glass with various combinations of alcohol and mixers. For some such mixed drinks, it is common to apply salt to the rim of the glass as a garnish or drink enhancement. In other words, it is desirable to rim the glass with salt. Not all mixed drinks use salt in this manner and therefore, the bottles of the mixers used to prepare such mixed drinks are typically stored in one location, and it may be necessary to separately store and locate the garnishes such as salt in a different location, wherein both the mixer bottle and garnish need to be brought together and then the preparer can then rim the glass with salt before pouring the mixer and other drink ingredients into the glass.
Currently in order to rim a glass with salt, you would buy and store the salt separately from the bottle of mixer such as Bloody Mary mix or the like. This is an added cost for the consumer. To apply the salt, the drink preparer, which may be a consumer of the drink or a bartender making a mixed drink for the consumer, would then need to put the salt in another container or on a plate to apply the salt on the rim of the glass. In this process, the salt is poured into the salt container or on a plate and the glass is tipped and pressed into the salt, which then sticks to the glass rim. After which, the mixed drink including the mixer, ice and alcohol or other ingredients are placed into the glass. This adds to the time preparing the drink, and also dictates that the preparer would have to store and clean up the salt mixture which often can spill.
The present invention relates to a dedicated plastic container for housing drink garnishes such as salt, together with the bottles of drink mixers, such as Bloody Mary and Margarita mixes. For purposes of the present invention, the garnish preferably is salt, but in view of the variety of drinks and creativity associated with drink mixology, the garnish may be other types of particulated or dry drink enhancements that might be stored in the inventive container. The container preferably is dedicated to the storage of salt or other garnishes used in making a drink, wherein the container is stored directly on the bottle of mixer and may be sold in combination therewith if desired.
This invention allows the consumer to locate the drink mix and garnish container which are stored together, pull the container off of the bottle of the drink mix, apply a salt rim to their glass, and add the other ingredients including the drink mix. The garnish container can be remounted to the mixer bottle and stored in combination therewith for subsequent use. Based upon information and belief, in the beverage industry this garnish container has never been made, and there is not believed to be a product like this in the market place. This invention would serve as a significant improvement to the beverage industry. As examples of benefits resulting from the present invention, this inventive container would be important in the beverage industry due to the speed, price, and convenience it adds to the mixer market. This invention will improve the beverage industry by being the first to have a container that includes salt and a vessel to apply the salt to the rim of a glass. This adds convenience, speed, ease, and a lower cost to the consumer. As such, this container serves as the first two-in-one mixer in the beverage industry which serves as a storage container and vessel matable with glassware for the application of the salt to the rim thereof.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.
The present invention is referenced in an intended application in
Generally as seen in
In the illustrated embodiment of
Referring to
As noted above, the bottom wall portion 14 extends inwardly and terminates at a bottom wall edge 14A. The wall edge 14A is formed with an interior annular skirt portion 12 that projects upwardly a small distance. The interior annular skirt portion 12 of bottom base 3 has a thread grooving 7 or other engagement formation which faces inwardly and is complementary to and matingly engages with the inner thread grooving 5 formed in the top lid 2.
Preferably, the top lid or closure 2 is configured for threaded fitment to the associated bottom base 3. The internal thread portion 4 of top lid 2 will lock with the exterior thread portion 6 of the base closure 3 to close and seal the outer periphery of the container 1. The interior thread portion 5 of top lid 2 will lock with the external thread portion 7 of base closure 3 to close and seal the inner periphery of the container 1. In this manner, the container 1 is formed with a hollow interior or storage compartment 1A having an annular shape as generally seen in
When the container 1 is assembled, a central bore 1B (
To facilitate use, the bottom wall 14 preferably is inclined to define a frusto-conical shape as seen in
The upper wall surface 24 therefore is tapered to define an annular pocket at the shoulder 22 that continually collects the salt or other garnish in the area of the shoulder 22, even as the salt is removed or depleted during salting of multiple drink glasses. This ensures that the stock of garnish collects in the area of the shoulder 22 which is about the size of a normal diameter drink glass. If the salt is maintained near its maximum level, even smaller diameter drink glasses may be salted since the salt reservoir will extend radially from near the inner skirt portion 12 toward the outer skirt portion 10. This radial distance can accommodate a variety of glass diameters. As the garnish is depleted, the salt still collects in the area of the wall shoulder 22 described above due to the taper of the upper wall surface 24.
Preferably, the lower wall surface 25 also is inclined to define a taper similar to the upper wall surface 24 although it is possible to make these wall surfaces 24 and 25 dissimilar. The taper of the lower wall surface 25 tapers inwardly upwardly and is configured to sit on the bottle shoulder that is generally formed in the transition area where the wider bottle body 22 transitions or narrows to the bottle neck 21. The taper of the lower wall surface 25 ensures that the container 21 tends to center the garnish container 1 on the bottle 20 and provide a secure feeling engagement that limits the radial or sideward movement of the container 1. Therefore, if the bottle 20 is relatively narrow, the taper of the lower wall surface 25 readily fits onto the bottle shoulder. If the bottle 20 is wider, the flat wall shoulder 22 may itself sit on the bottle shoulder. This helps to facilitate storing of the inventive container 1 on the bottle 20 during normal use in a beverage serving station, and simultaneous access to both the container 1 and the bottle 20 when needed.
During use, the container 1 can be readily removed from the bottle 20 and the top lid 2 removed from the base 3 so that the glass can be salted or garnished. After pressing of the glass into the interior of the base 3, the glass can be filled with the remaining drink ingredients. The lid 2 can then be locked back into place or assembled on the base 3, and the assembled container 1 placed back onto the bottle neck 21 for storage. Notably, the beverage container 20 may include any suitable beverage for preparing a particular drink, and the garnish is chosen as complementary to the particular beverage in the beverage container 20. As described above, the garnish might be salt or flavored powder that is complementary to the particular drink mix such as a flavored powder that is complementary to a Bloody Mary mix or a salt that is complementary to a Margarita mix.
Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.
This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/402,294, filed on Sep. 30, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62402294 | Sep 2016 | US |