whiskey rocks

[kevin gilmore]

So a couple of you have purchased whiskey rocks, which got me to

thinking about better things to use with more thermal mass.

I came up with the idea of 1 gram pure .9999 silver bars.

Or gold plated pure copper balls.

What you think?

[grawk]

copper, being toxic, seems like a bad idea

[blessingx]

Interesting. I have my issues with the stones (temp/shape). Following.

Not getting sick though would be good.

Edited March 16, 2012 by blessingx

[Hopstretch]

It does rock!

Mmmm. Whisky.

[kevin gilmore]

That is why you plate the copper with gold.

Or use surgical stainless balls. Or ceramic.

The idea is to cool them down a bunch

(i.e. liquid nitrogen) to keep jim's sazerac's

cold for the length of time it takes to drink

the whole thing.

I've tried soapstone in liquid nitrogen, and

it just cracks and turns to powder.

Edited March 16, 2012 by kevin gilmore

[manaox2]

Painted ceramic balls sound affordable classy and cool.

[swt61]

That is why you plate the copper with gold.

Or use surgical stainless balls. Or ceramic.

The idea is to cool them down a bunch

(i.e. liquid nitrogen) to keep jim's sazerac's

cold for the length of time it takes to drink

the whole thing.

I've tried soapstone in liquid nitrogen, and

it just cracks and turns to powder.

What about taking the other approach and freezing Jim's throat?

[swt61]

Painted ceramic balls sound affordable classy and cool.

Flesh tone with painted pubes FTW!

[acidbasement]

I've tried soapstone in liquid nitrogen, and

it just cracks and turns to powder.

Soapstone's strength depends on where it was quarried, so you might just need stronger stone - ie. structural as opposed to carving soapstone. Liquid N might be a bit much for any rock though.

[jvlgato]

Interesting. Wouldn't ceramic shatter also? Could soapstone be stabilized in some way? Or be cooled more gradually, or to a lesser degree? Lower temperature/higher pressure liquid nitrogen container? Other cooling materials like dry ice? Or is that colder?

[kevin gilmore]

dry ice is -80c.

liquid nitrogen is -200C (or so)

liquid helium is -270C and is way the hell to expensive to try this with.

(but i might anyway)

I have plenty of dry ice, will try that next.

I wonder what that would do to the taste of the drink

if directly dumped into the booze. Likely turn it into a fizzie.

Although i have a really nice new 25L dewar that fits in my

car for carrying around N2, The dry ice might be a better idea.

The ceramic balls i have are for high vacuum/low temperature work, and i

tried it in liquid N2, and they did not break.

The guys at work had the idea to take copper balls and coat them with teflon

to make them innert. This is going to take a while to try, and my guess is that

the teflon is going to crack due to differences in coefficients of expansion.

[nikongod]

Why not prechill your liquor & other ingredients? A special refrigerator could be dedicated to this task and kept at ~50F. Give the chilling-cube a head start!

Although certainly not DIY you can buy metal ice-cubes.

http://baraccessories.com/stainless-steel-ice-cubes-food-safe.html

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Vinotemp+-+Epicureanist+Boreas+Ice+Cubes/4709029.p?id=1218515225054&skuId=4709029&cmp=RMX&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=4709029

Any thoughts on the plastic ice cubes with water inside? This kind:

http://www.amazon.com/White-Ice-Reusable-Cubes-Drinks/dp/B001C54DVO

Seems like it would be nice.

[Augsburger]

Given the cost of precious metals these days, in order for those of us with non-Richard Branson wallets to afford these they would have be so small they would be a swallow or chocking hazard, yes?

[jvlgato]

Wouldn't dry ice just sublimate and not affect the drink's flavor if you put it directly in the drink?

I was thinking more that you could use these substances to chill the soap stone without shattering it.

[morphsci]

I keep all my vermouths (in the broad sense) in a refrigerator at 43 degrees F and all my vodka in the freezer. Some people keep their gin in the freezer also but I do not. There is no reason you couldn't store any 80 proof plus spirit in the freezer. With many cocktails though the water from the melting ice is an integral part of the drink.

Although most of the dry ice will sublimate it will add some carbonic acid to the drink, which may or may not affect the taste.

Edited March 16, 2012 by morphsci

[manaox2]

I have the plastic ice cubes from Amazon. Yes, they work fine.

I do love the idea of making ice cubes of the drink itself. Makes a great surprise too when someones on the rocks its more than expected. Upscale bars need to do this.

I have done dry ice in drinks too. Works fine, just don't let it rest on your lips or tongue. Better yet, just save it for halloween and use something easier and reusable the rest of the year.

Edited March 16, 2012 by manaox2

[Voltron]

The idea is to cool them down a bunch

(i.e. liquid nitrogen) to keep jim's sazerac's

cold for the length of time it takes to drink

the whole thing.

It doesn't take Jim long enough to drink a Sazerac to register a temp change.

[kevin gilmore]

It doesn't take Jim long enough to drink a Sazerac to register a temp change.

This i believe.

I however take at least 10 minutes to drink one. I must be seriously out of

practice.

[Craig Sawyers]

dry ice is -80c.

liquid nitrogen is -200C (or so)

liquid helium is -270C and is way the hell to expensive to try this with.

(but i might anyway)

Problem with liquid helium is the latent heat of vapourisation is bugger all. The heat capacity of the vapour is huge, which is where all the cooling power is. Liquid nitrogen has a huge latent heat, and bugger all heat capacity of the vapour

That is why you precool a superconducting magnet with (cheap) liquid nitrogen, and only go from 77K to 4.2K with helium.

The final conclusion is: cool the drink with liquid nitrogen directly. Using it to cool balls of some sort, and then use them to cool the booze just adds a further step, and loses cooling efficiency. Just sling the liquid nitrogen straight in - a sort of nitrogen sling

[manaox2]

What effect would freezing alcohol have on its taste? Anyone want to try this?

[Emooze]

Reminded me of this article: http://www.kaiserpenguin.com/everlasting-gin-and-tonic/

By their solution, make the drink and then freeze it using dry ice.