I’ve been wondering for a while now if there’s any chemical that could be used to keep drinks cool but sublimates instead of melts so you don’t end up with a watery drink. Obviously the substance will have to be non-toxic. It would have to sublimate around the melting point of water, maybe a few degrees higher. Price is not an issue.
Dry Ice would be my first guess.
It has such a low sublimation point, I’d expect it to freeze whatever drink you put it in.
It doesn’t, though. It’s the basis for those bubbling bowls of punch and for those 1950s “atomic cocktails”. Dry Ice won’t freeze your drink solid.
And I can’t think of anything else I’d trust in my drink. A lot of things that sublime would probably get at least partially dissolved in your drink, and would be distasteful if not actually toxic. I recall subliming an organometallic in chemistry lab that smelled like sour milk (and was probably toxic if ingested). You wouldn’t want that. Stick to Dry Ice.
Actually, it ends up forming a thin layer of frozen whatever-you’re-drinking around the block of dry ice. Just swirl it around and it does a fine job. It even carbonates the drink as you go.
Your other option is to just freeze cubes of whatever you’re drinking. Then there’s no dilution going on. It may require something other than your standard run-of-the-mill kitchen freezer if your drink of choice is something like Bacardi 151 rum, but you said cost is no object.
But don’t swallow small pieces. You won’t like that.
So I could drop a few pieces of dry ice in a drink, maybe cover it with screen so they didn’t pour out with the liquid, and I’d have a drink that stays cold without getting watery? That would be just what I’m looking for.
Cost is no object but health is. 151 has an extremely low freezing point. If you had it so cold, it would damage your mouth and esophagus. They say you shouldn’t even drink liquor you just pulled out of a freezer, much less a cryogenic freezer.
For most drinks though, the temperature would be more reasonable, but as it freezes, isn’t it only the water that freezes? I’m thinking the sugar and other chemicals would be pushed out of the ice crystals. They’d probably end up in the ice cube, but not evenly distributed.
You’d probably want to make ice cubes out of whatever you’re making sans the liquor. So freeze the mixer then make your drink a tad on the strong side.
I’ve done this many a time with naught for a screen but my own teeth. The layer of frozen drink that forms around the dry ice is enough insulation to keep from damaging my teeth.
I did not suggest swallowing the frozen drink cubes! Don’t do that. It would be bad.
Having them in the drink, however, would not be a problem.
I’ve drunk water that hat a bit of dry ice put in it, and didn’t care for the taste at all.
Thing is if you put 151 ice into some 151 liquid, the ice is going to cool the liquid down to just above the melting point unless the ice completely melts before it gets that cold. I don’t think I need to look it up to say that 75.5% alcohol just above its freezing point is not good to drink. (Not that slightly chilled 151 is all that great for you either…) I’m guessing it’s somewhere around -100 F.
Did it taste carbonated or something completely different? I’m guessing it would be good for carbonated beverages, not so much tea or milk.
It doesn’t sublimate but especially if it’s a fruitier drink, you can use frozen grapes. They keep the drink cold, they don’t really affect flavor and when you’re done, you have a thawed grape or two to munch on.
It didn’t have little bubbles such as usually found in carbonated drinks. I don’t normally drink soda water, so I don’t know how it would compare to that. It had what I would describe as a somewhat bitter, flat taste.
Sounds like tonic.
That’s how I always take my Jagermeister.
That might be carbonic acid, formed when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water.
They’ve got reusable ice cubes that are little plastic cubes of water - you freeze them and they just melt inside their plastic coatings. Much easier than DIY chemistry.
Seems to me you are unnecessarily limiting your solution. What is it you really wish to achieve? Keeping a drink cold but not having water from the ice dilute the drink as it melts?
How about use a thermos? An insulated cup? Or how about make a cup that has one of those gel-pack materials in it so you keep the cup in the freezer until you want a drink? Or better yet, make a cup with a gel-pack holder and multiple gel packs that can be swapped out. They will keep the drink cold without melting into the drink.
If having a melting thing in your cup is what you really want, how about buy those icee-pop things that come in plastic bags. Stick one of those sealed in your drink, it keeps the drink cold and retains the flavored fluid inside the bag, ready to stick back in the freezer for another go around. Fla-Vor-Ice
http://www.jelsert.com/Products/Freezer-Bars/Fla-Vor-Ice.aspx
I’m guilty of doing it myself, but still, I know I read somewhere it’s not good for the esophagus. Without a doubt, if it was 100 degrees colder, this would become more apparent after one drink.
Ya know, I’ve only seen these once, and I was in France at the time. If I ever see them at the store, I’ll buy some.
I don’t ask strictly for practicality. I realize there are easier ways to keep a drink cool and it’s not something I necessarily plan on trying. I’m just curious.