Coffeeseur here. There is nothing novel about these methods, they all combine prior art. It is not that different from trying to patent a recipe.<p>And on a side note, Starbucks has gone downhill a lot since its inception. It depends which store you go to, as each one has differing levels of quality, but in general the quality control is very poor (I notice many employees pouring espresso, pre-made, from a pitcher -- espresso will go flat fairly quick this way). I have recently become a fan of Pete's although their locations also vary in quality. The taste difference between my local Pete's and Starbuck's is very apparent.
This actually sounds like a new device. I'm not an espresso expert so they might actually be patenting something that already exists but it at least sounds significantly different from the espresso machine I have.
What is the point of 2-5 [0]? None of these numbers match up and it seems like they could just say 31kg to start, in 1.<p>[0]
1. A method of preparing espresso comprising: providing ground coffee to a brew chamber of an espresso machine; performing a first compression of the ground coffee with a pressure from about 10 kg to about 60 kg; performing a second compression of the ground coffee with a pressure from about 60 kg to about 500 kg; and forcing heated and pressurized water through the ground coffee, thereby extracting espresso.<p>2. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing a first compression of the ground coffee comprises compressing the ground coffee with a pressure from about 15 kg to about 55 kg.<p>3. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a first compression of the ground coffee comprises compressing the ground coffee with a pressure from about 20 kg to about 40 kg.<p>4. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a first compression of the ground coffee comprises compressing the ground coffee with a pressure from about 30 kg to about 33 kg.<p>5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a first compression of the ground coffee comprises compressing the ground coffee with a pressure of about 31 kg.
It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to be understood as being among other acceptable examples. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims
Potential prior art here in a patent from the early 1990s: <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/US5337652" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/patents/US5337652</a>