BACKGROUND Ice and slices of plant material are added to a great variety of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The ice maintains the temperature of the drink while the plant material adds flavour. The ice is typically frozen water, prepared in a freezer, while the plant material is usually a slice of citrus fruit. Other plant materials are known, for example a mojito (a Cuban cocktail) is usually served with an entire mint plant in the glass.

The ice will usually be tap water frozen into a mould for dispensing as necessary. When many pieces of ice are required for drinks, as in a busy bar or restaurant, the pieces are usually stored in a receptacle such as an ice bucket. This receptacle will need to be insulated if the ice is to be prevented from melting before use, and the receptacle will also need to be regularly cleaned to maintain the hygiene of the ice added to the drinks.

It has been found in various studies that the hygiene of open ice buckets is often not maintained to a satisfactory standard.

Once the ice is added to the drink, the ice begins to melt. Liquid water is thus released into the drink, diluting it and impairing the flavour of the drink. This is a further disadvantage of the present systems.

The plant material will usually be prepared at the same time as the drink or, if many drinks are required at any one time, the plant material will be prepared beforehand and stored until necessary. Preparation of the plant material may involve time-consuming and inconvenient slicing and cutting. Preparation and storage of the plant material usually necessitates refrigeration in hygienic conditions. The prepared plant material may also have a short shelf-life in storage, causing wastage.

The present invention alleviates the problems of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Aspects of the invention are defined in the appended claims.

In one aspect the present invention provides a composition comprising a beverage in the solid phase and at least one piece of plant material wherein the beverage is carbonated or is flavoured.

As used herein the term"piece"is meant to mean either a whole plant, a subdivision of a plant or a part of a plant.

In one aspect the present invention provides a method for the preparation of a composition comprising a beverage in the solid phase and at least one piece of plant material, wherein the beverage is carbonated or is flavoured, the method comprising the steps of (i) providing an initial composition comprising the at least one piece of plant material and the beverage in the liquid phase; (ii) freezing the initial composition.

The present invention has an advantage over the prior art in that a higher level of hygiene is maintained. Use of the composition in a drink negates the need for cutting plant material, a process that requires clean conditions, knives, chopping boards, etc.

Use of the composition also negates the need for storing ice in a potentially unhygienic container.

The present invention has a further advantage over the prior art in that, in prior systems, the ice would dilute the drink as it melted, impairing its flavour. The composition comprises a beverage in solid form which may be the same as a beverage to be cooled ; therefore melting of the composition does not impair the flavour and dilute the drink.

A further advantage of the present invention is that it is highly convenient when preparing drinks. Rather than selecting and adding to a drink a piece or pieces of ice, followed by selecting, cutting and adding to the drink a piece of plant material, one needs only to dispense one or more compositions to add to the drink. This advantage of convenience and speed of drink preparation is desirable in busy bars, functions, restaurants etc. , and also where space for preparation is limited e. g. aeroplanes. In domestic use this

convenience is also advantageous. This convenience of dispensing is also more hygienic than the prior systems, in that less handling is necessary than in the prior systems.

A further advantage of the present invention is that it is in circumstances in which safe drinking water is not available for the formation of ice, frozen beverage which is manufactured to high hygiene standards may be used to prepare a composition for cooling a beverage.

A further advantage of the present invention is that during the preparation of the composition, for example during freezing, flavour (s) and/or vitamins such as Vitamin C from the plant material may be incorporated in the beverage. This is particularly the case for citrus fruits wherein freezing may result in the bursting of cells walls and the release of flavour (s) and/or vitamins. Thus the present composition may release flavour (s) and/or vitamins in a beverage to be cooled more rapidly than the simple addition of the plant material to a liquid beverage.

There is also a nutritional advantage of the composition, in that it includes frozen plant material, as opposed to storing plant material in chilled or ambient conditions. To quote the British Nutrition Foundation (http ://www. nutrition. org. uk/Facts/commodities/fruitveg . html) : "Scientific studies have shown that vitamin C levels in some vegetables are actually lower in raw vegetables that have been distributed and stored at ambient or chilled temperatures than in those that had been immediately frozen after harvest. Other studies have shown that vegetables stored at room temperature over 2-3 days may lose 50-70% of their folate content. " Therefore, the freezing of the composition preserves vitamin C levels over and above the levels that would be found in a slice of plant material that has been stored above freezing.

In one aspect the present invention may be utilised to provide a beverage concentrate in a convenient form. The above advantages are applicable to this aspect. In one such aspect tea is prepared in a concentrated form and frozen. The tea may contain any plant material, such as a slice of lemon. The solid (tea) beverage may then be stored and when

required combined with liquid water. The solid (tea) beverage melts and provides concentrated flavour to the liquid water.

PREFERRED ASPECTS The beverage may be of any type known to those skilled in the art.

In one aspect, the beverage is carbonated. Typical carbonated beverages include carbonated water such as carbonated mineral water, carbonated soda water, carbonated tonic water, colas, lemonade including clear lemonade and"traditional"cloudy lemonade, beers including lagers, bitters, stouts, ginger beer, and fruit based carbonated alcoholic beverages such as cider, and perry.

In yet another aspect, the beverage is water based.

In yet another aspect the beverage is flavoured. Typical flavoured beverages include squash, cordial, tea, coffee, mineral water, soda water, cola, lemonade, tonic water, ginger beer, lemonade, and fruit based alcoholic beverages such as cider, perry, calvados, wine, port, and sherry.

In a preferred aspect the beverage is tea.

In a further aspect the beverage is both flavoured and carbonated. Typical flavoured and carbonated beverages include carbonated mineral water, carbonated soda water, carbonated tonic water, cola, ginger beer, lemonade including clear lemonade and "traditional"cloudy lemonade, and beers including lagers, bitters, and stouts.

In a highly preferred aspect the beverage is carbonated tonic water.

The plant material may be of any plant or plant variety known to those skilled in the art.

In one aspect the plant material is a fruit or a false fruit. Typical fruits include lemon, orange, grape, cherry, kiwi fruit, and tomato. Typical false fruits include strawberry, apple and pear.

In another aspect the fruit is a stone fruit such as a plum, peach, nectarine, apricot, cherry, olive, mango or almond.

In another aspect the fruit is a multiple fruit such as a fig or pineapple.

In another aspect the fruit is a vine fruit such as a grape.

In another aspect the fruit is a hesperidium such as a citrus fruit.

In another aspect the fruit is a citrus fruit such as a lemon, shaddock, lime, orange, tangelo, kumquat or grapefruit.

In a highly preferred aspect the citrus fruit is a lemon.

In a further highly preferred aspect, the beverage is carbonated tonic water and the plant material is lemon.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a composition as described herein, wherein the composition is contained within an insulating material. In another aspect, the invention relates to a composition as described herein, wherein the composition is entirely enclosed by an insulating material. Preferred insulating materials are polymeric materials including laminated polymer/metallic foil materials.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a composition as described herein, wherein a piece of plant material in the composition as described herein is disposed unequally within the thickness of the beverage. The composition is therefore operably a solid, wherein the piece of plant material is closer to the surface of the composition on one side of the composition than on another side. If the piece of plant material was equally disposed within the thickness of the beverage, assuming equal melting rates, both of the two sides of the solid would have to melt for the piece of plant material to come into contact with the liquid drink and thereby flavour the liquid drink. However, by unequally disposing the piece of plant material, the plant material will come into contact with the liquid drink more rapidly, while the composition is still partly solid. The composition therefore imparts flavour and cooling to the liquid drink in this form.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the composition is prepared in such a way that its shape and size is appropriate for it to be placed in a drinking glass containing liquid.

In a preferred embodiment, the composition accordingly detailed herein is prepared with tonic water as the beverage and a slice of lemon as the piece of plant material. The composition would then be added to a liquid mixture of gin and optionally tonic water.

In a further preferred embodiment, the beverage would be cola and the piece of plant material would be lemon. The composition would then be added to liquid cola.

In a further preferred embodiment, the beverage would be orange juice and the piece of plant material would be a slice of orange. The composition may then be added to a liquid mixture of vodka and orange juice.

In a further preferred embodiment, the beverage would be tea and the piece of plant material may be a slice of lemon. The composition may then be added to hot or cold water or to liquid tea.

The present invention will now be described in further detail in the following examples.

EXAMPLES Two illustrative examples of the preparation of the composition are given here. It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to these examples.

EXAMPLE 1 A whole fresh lemon was washed and dried. One end of the lemon was cut off and discarded. The lemon was sliced in equal parts (each in the order of 5mm thickness. ) A typically sized lemon produced between five to six slices. The other end of the lemon is discarded.

The slice of lemon was inserted into a cylindrical mould of approximately 70mm in diameter with vertical sides. Approximately 60mi of tonic water was poured into the

mould and the top of the mould covered. The mould is placed (containing tonic water and lemon) into a freezer. Once completely frozen, the contents of the mould are removed.

The contents of the mould are placed into a drink, in the present embodiment a mixture of gin and tonic water, for consumption.

EXAMPLE 2 In a further illustrative example, the lemon was prepared and added to the mould as above. A conventional tea bag, or alternatively tea leaves, was added to approximately 60moi of boiling water in a separate container. After a period of approximately four minutes, the tea bag is removed, or if tea leaves were used, the tea leaves are removed with a sieve. The liquid tea was then added to the mould containing the slice of lemon prepared as above. The mould is placed into a freezer. Once completely frozen, the contents of the mould are removed.

The contents of the mould are placed into hot water. Once the solid tea melted the beverage was fit for consumption.

All publications mentioned in the above specification are herein incorporated by reference. Various modifications and variations of the described methods and system of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in beverage preparation, food science or related fields are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.