Typical current methods for producing large quantities of extracts from solid
raw materials such as ground, roasted coffee are designed for exhaustive extraction.
Such methods are not ideally suited to producing high quality coffee extracts that
are rich in flavor and fragrance, and which maintain the varietal characteristics
of the roasted coffee from which they are produced. The current invention provides
methods and apparatus for producing such high quality extracts. The invention provides
methods that have sufficient flexibility and scalability to be used for a wide
variety of applications, including for producing industrial-scale quantities of
extracts for the food and beverage industry. The invention provides methods and
apparatus that can produce highly concentrated, "gourmet quality" extracts for
use as flavoring agents, beverage concentrates, and fragrances.
