The invention relates to a fast-acting composition for preparing cold and
hot drinks from drinking water, in particular coffee or tea. Starting
from the disadvantages of the known prior art, it is an object of the
invention to provide a fast-acting composition for preparing cold and hot
drinks from drinking water which is simple to handle, has a uniformly
constant action, excludes the risk of microbe formation and, after a
relatively short treatment time of the drinking water, leads to a
noticeable improvement in taste of the drink. For this, as a solution a
composition is proposed which consists of cellulose fibers which are
modified by chemical reaction with formation of phosphate ester groups
and have an ion-exchange capacity of at least 50 mg of copper/g of dried
fiber, this composition being contacted by immersion with the drinking
water or brewing water at least briefly, for a period of a plurality of
minutes. The chemical modification is performed by phosphorylating the
cellulose fibers with phosphoric acid or ammonium phosphate up to a
phosphorus content of from 3 to 8% by mass. To increase the mechanical
stability of the fibers, the phosphorylation can additionally be combined
with a carbamidation with urea up to a nitrogen content of at least 1% by
mass in the form of carbamide groups. The modified cellulose fibers are
so rapid in their action that after immersion in the preparation water,
even after only a few minutes, if appropriate supported by a gentle
stirring motion, a noticeable taste improvement of the drinking water and
the drinks prepared therefrom is achieved, without disadvantageous effect
on the aroma of the respective drink.
