Ice made of granite

[MsRamsey]

They claim it's better in your glass of single-malt scotch than the stuff that melts. Anyone tried?

http://www.newyorkish.com/newyorkish/2004/...ewest_luxu.html

[slkinsey]

Well... first of all, single malt scotch is not designed to be consumed chilled. Blended scotch is, but not single malt. Second, scotch benefits from a certain amount of dilution.

The whole premise is kind of silly.

[CityCook]

Scotch lore isn't exactly in my ken, but it seems to me that, for people who want what the product offers (cold drinks w/o dilution), it's a great idea.

[slkinsey]

Why not just keep the botle in the refrigerator, then?

[Mayhaw Man]

I have a set of those cool ice cubes (plastic I think) that have flies embedded in them. You can use those as well.

[MsRamsey]

I thought perhaps there was some merit to the idea of granite cubes because ice from the freezer can taste funny. Sometimes that's just due to the poor quality of tap water.

[JAZ]

While it's true you can get off-flavors from ice, I'd think there are cheaper ways to avoid it.

[Mayhaw Man]

If off flavors are preventing you from using using ice in blended scotch, you can always freeze a gallon of distilled water and chip it as needed. This will introduce (in theory at least) no off flavor to your delicious beverage. It will also not add any cloudiness to the scotch.

[beans]

This is yet another product I find goes hand in hand with Liquorfilter.com.

[Schielke]

The key to creating a sensible product would be a system that allows you to freeze filtered water into an attractive "ice cube" shape in a sealed environment so off flavors from the freezer do not contaminate it.

Basically it is a clean icecube tray with plastic wrap on it.

Ben

[Katherine]

I have some glass "ice cubes" I bought for a prop a few years ago. They're very realistic looking, but they don't act like ice cubes. I thought they'd chill a beer without diluting it, but eh. They sink to the bottom, then they splash up when you try to drink. Probably the granite, being heavier might even chip a glass.

[anil]

I thought the idea of putting ice in blended scotch (on the rocks that is) was to use the stirrer to stir it a bit, take a sip, yack!! yack !!! yack!!, stir, take a sip [repeat]

If alone, omit the yacking and stare absent-mindedly at your drink, look up and watch the TV in the corner of the bar [repeat ] till it's time for the next one

Putting ice in a single malt a drop of water maybe, but ice ? Nah

[beans]

Probably the granite, being heavier might even chip a glass.

That's what I thought too. I enjoy my bar glassware and don't enjoy scratches, nicks or chips!

Besides, my kitchen countertop is granite. Something about placing chilled little chuncks of it into my single-malt....

Odd.

[bleachboy]

Why not just keep the botle in the refrigerator, then?

Oh, puh-leeze! Your solution doesn't cost $99 or come in a velvet-lined box with an engraved brass plaque!

[project]

There is another problem:

To cook the drink, we have to conduct heat from the drink to the 'ice' or whatever we use as a substitute for ordinary water ice.

For this purpose, water ice is especially -- shockingly -- effective.

If we start with 1 gram of water ice at a temperature of -20 C (temperature centigrade), then it takes about 10 calories of heat (small calories; the Calories in food energy are 1000 times larger -- sorry weight watchers!) to raise the ice to 0 C.

Now something big happens: It takes about 80 (79.7 is more accurate) calories of heat to convert the ice at 0 C to liquid water at 0 C. Then it takes about 1 calorie to raise the temperature of liquid water at 0 C to water at 1 C, and similarly (approximately, it's quite accurate but not exact) all the way up to boiling at 100 C (assume ordinary pressure).

Now, really big shock: It takes 539 calories to convert the water at 100 C to steam at 100 C. Then for steam (at atmospheric pressure) we are back to about 1/2 calorie per degree C. That's why it takes so much heat to reduce 4 quarts of stock to an intensely flavored delectable 3 cups!

For granite, one Internet site claims that raising 1 gram of granite 1 degree C will take 0.19 calories.

So, 1 gram of water going from -20 C to 10 C would use 100 calories, but 1 gram of granite going from -20 C to 10 C would use only 5.70 calories. So, per gram, water is about 100 / 5.70 = 17.5 times more effective than granite. So, instead of one pound of ice cubes, would need 17.5 pounds of granite cubes. Get a well built 'ice' bucket! Of course, granite is more dense than water; estimates from Internet sites include 2.4 to 2.8 times as dense as water. If we pick 2.6, then would need 6.7 times as much volume of granite. Also, make sure that 'ice' bucket for those granite cubes is bigger! Since the cube root of 6.7 is about 1.9, will need each dimension of the bucket to be nearly twice a long.

If the refrigerator is not as cold as -20 C, then water ice wins by even larger ratios.

Lesson: That 80 calories per gram for melting ice provides a huge amount of cooling per unit weight and per unit volume.

Exercise: Consider cubes of lithium.

[slkinsey]

For $200 you can get the granite ice cubes together with the Scotch Clip. Even better would be chilled rare earth magnet cubes you could put in your drink.

[Human Bean]

I don't have glassware that I'd worry about chipping or scratching - I'd worry about chipping a TOOTH if one of those things made contact.

[beans]

My priorities are out of wack!

[anil]

My priorities are out of wack!

Are in front of the bar or behind the bar most of your time

[Mabelline]

And you'd have to remember not to get drunk and try chewing on ice

[Katherine]

Now, really big shock:  It takes 539 calories to convert the water at 100 C to steam at 100 C.  Then for steam (at atmospheric pressure) we are back to about 1/2 calorie per degree C.  That's why it takes so much heat to reduce 4 quarts of stock to an intensely flavored delectable 3 cups!

I recommend not testing this part with single-malt scotch.

Better yet, give me the scotch, and I will run the test and deliver you the results.

[beans]

My priorities are out of wack!

Are in front of the bar or behind the bar most of your time

Generally either/or. The rest of the time I'm an eG inhabitant!

(Mondays and Tuesdays are almost always non-work days).

And good point Mabelline! I chew ice, almost unconsiously, but not when I'm drunk. I do it to slow down consumption when I know I'm around a few that drink like Vikings...

Ouch! Granite!!

Sure to make you a toothless wonder within seconds!

[project]

Here're two better solutions:

First, use ice cubes of ethyl alcohol! These freeze at -114 degrees C. When they melt, they take in as heat 24.9 calories per gram instead of 79.7 for water.

For liquid ethyl alcohol, it takes 0.6 calories to raise one gram one degree C. So, to raise 1 gram of solid ethyl alcohol at -114 C to liquid at 10 C would take 99.3 calories which is almost exactly the 100 calories we got from one gram of water ice starting at -20 C.

For the relevant target audience, the really big advantage here is that these ethyl cubes not only cool the drink well but, as they melt, make the drink stronger instead of weaker!

Second, use dry ice and get a carbonated drink as a freebie!

The temperature of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) is -56.6 C.

So, the easy way both to keep the dry ice and to make and keep the ethyl cubes is to get some liquid nitrogen at -196 C. Liquid nitrogen is made in huge quantities and is not very expensive.

Uh, this is a joke, folks! Handling things that cold is dangerous! Leave such things to professionals, which may not include your local bartender! Also, 100% ethyl alcohol is strange stuff and likely dangerous to handle.

[beans]

Uh, this is a joke, folks!

I knew that by your previous post on this thread.

No appreciation for dry humour!