# Iced Coffee and Thermodynamics **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432 "2018-03-29T20:25:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/21 "2018-03-30T04:20:56Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Thank you, Francis Vaughan. You win one glass of diluted iced coffee! err, thanks, I think… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/22 "2018-03-30T04:24:03Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Bring a bit of liquid nitrogen into the office … maybe impress the boss … I’d be impressed that’s for sure … You can add as many Sugar in the Raw packets as you like!🙂 I used to work for an atmospheric gas company, btw. Sadly, they didn’t keep liquid nitrogen near the coffee machines. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/23 "2018-03-30T14:49:35Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > There are only 7 possible answers given the parameters - less, since 3 and 6 are functionally equivalent. > > Fill the glass in the following order with no waiting time between steps: > > 1. Ice, hot, cold > 2. Ice, cold, hot > 3. Cold, hot, ice > 4. Cold, ice, hot > 5. Hot, ice, cold > 6. Hot, cold, ice > 7. It doesn’t matter If cold goes first, does hot brew directly into the final container, or does it brew into a separate pitcher that gets dumped in the glass all at once? You want to optimize for whatever lets the hot sit by itself for the most time, even if its just during the time it takes you to accomplish the other steps, although in the end it wont matter much. If you’re brewing directly into the final glass, then my vote is for option 6. If you’re brewing into an intermediate vessel, then my vote is for option 3. They are not functionally equivalent, since the brew time itself will allow for non-negligible heat transfer. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/24 "2018-03-30T16:23:02Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > [snip] … Note: Glass breakage due to heat/cold variance is not an issue. I wonder if we could pour enough liquid nitrogen in so that the coffee drops below 32ºF and freeze up … the nitrogen would continue to vaporize creating pressure … See if that would break the glass … still have any friends at your old job? … ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/25 "2018-04-01T04:36:33Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > I wonder if we could pour enough liquid nitrogen in so that the coffee drops below 32ºF and freeze up … the nitrogen would continue to vaporize creating pressure … > > See if that would break the glass … still have any friends at your old job? … It would only create pressure if you pour it into a bottle and put a lid on. Yes it’s pretty easy to pour liquid nitrogen into liquid and freeze it. Making ice cream is a fairly common (if unapproved) use of leftover liquid nitrogen in labs. You can make a much richer ice cream than normal - because of the lower temperature, you can freeze an ice cream base with higher fat content. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/26 "2018-04-01T12:13:19Z")
It’s also a lot quicker and easier than conventional ice cream. Keep stirring until it gets hard to stir, and then you’re done. And you’re working in the wrong sort of lab if liquid nitrogen ice cream is unapproved. The places I’ve worked at, it usually just gets chalked up as “education/outreach”. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/27 "2018-04-01T17:40:03Z")
Great OPs think alike :): **[Which cools hot coffee quicker: milk into coffee, or vice versa?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=542884)** Great cites there to some serious physics. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/28 "2018-04-01T19:55:20Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Great OPs think alike :): **[Which cools hot coffee quicker: milk into coffee, or vice versa?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=542884)** > > Great cites there to some serious physics. So when **bob++** drank his date’s coffee before she got there … her interest in him decayed like radioactivity? … that sure siphons the fun out of leaking capacitors … macroscopically speaking of course … The OP needs more hands-on experimentation with his radiometric dating … the coffee angle ain’t gonna work … ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/29 "2018-04-01T20:27:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And you’re working in the wrong sort of lab if liquid nitrogen ice cream is unapproved. The places I’ve worked at, it usually just gets chalked up as “education/outreach”. I work for the government. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/30 "2018-04-02T04:49:21Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > If you’re going to that trouble, you could also use “whikey stones.” Though stone isn’t the best material for it. I think stainless steel would be the best compromise between food safety, thermal capacity and thermal conductivity. You could buy [balls of steel](https://originalbos.com/) sold for that purpose, but I’m sure they are just steel ball bearings [like these](https://www.amazon.com/Inch-Stainless-Steel-Bearing-Balls/dp/B007B2A84S/ref=pd_bxgy_328_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B007B2A84S&pd_rd_r=3ZS6P77W0J2SEZEM0H1M&pd_rd_w=iwbLd&pd_rd_wg=9Q6rO&psc=1&refRID=3ZS6P77W0J2SEZEM0H1M). I have some of them. They don’t work nearly as well as ice cubes. Maybe because they don’t change state. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/31 "2018-04-02T06:59:58Z")
Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff (Coffee and ice) down there. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432/32 "2018-04-02T07:57:11Z")
Get two mugs. Pour the hot coffee into one mug, allow to sit for a minute while it warms the mug. Transfer the coffee into the second mug And then cool the first in cold water. Repeat. Yes, my family thinks I’m nuts,why did you ask? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iced-coffee-and-thermodynamics/811432.md?page=1)