way cool

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by Boise_Lib.

*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Boise_Lib.

yea, these have been around for a while now; teraforma

It's a fun idea but it's not a replacement.
Ice doesn't absorb heat, so the drink stays the same temperature the entire time any ice exists, but the rock starts warming up immediately, slowly warming the drink with it.
The user has to choose if he wants to keep his drink cold or undiluted.
Also, cheap imitations give out dust, so get the real deal or check user reviews.

>> ^shole:

yea, these have been around for a while now; teraforma
It's a fun idea but it's not a replacement.
Ice doesn't absorb heat, so the drink stays the same temperature the entire time any ice exists, but the rock starts warming up immediately, slowly warming the drink with it.
The user has to choose if he wants to keep his drink cold or undiluted.
Also, cheap imitations give out dust, so get the real deal or check user reviews.


I think I get what you were going for here but this isn't strictly true. Ice does absorb heat and it does change temperature. It warms to 0 C and stays there as it melts - but the melt water warms from there. The stone on the other hand warms continuously up to room temperature but it will remain colder than the drink and never 'warm' it. The only real difference between the two is that the melted ice dilutes the drink and has an added heat capacity in the enthalpy of fusion required to change it from ice to liquid.

Yep, answering questions no one asked...

For what it's worth I have some of these and they work pretty well. I generally drank my spirits at room temperature anyway, because icing a drink can inhibit the flavor. These stones give you a nice little chill to make the alcohol burn less, but doesn't change the flavor much compared to room temp.

I hear you can also run these stones under water and microwave them to keep drinks warm, but I haven't tried that yet.
Besides, the added volume of the stones mean I would get that much less coffee. heh

Countdown to bar owner being sued when when someone swallows/breaks teeth on these...

Cold whisky?!?!!? Blasphemers!!!!

Neither of those descriptions above really describe what happens in terms of heating/cooling.

You put a cold stone in a warmer drink. The cold stone will take energy away from the drink until they have reached the same energy level, or temperature.

Then they'll both warm up based on the air temperature.

Same as ice... it absorbs the energy from the drink, making it colder, until it (now water) has reached an equilibrium with the alcohol.... then it too will just warm up to air temperature over time.

So, yeah, the only difference is that you have diluted alcohol vs non diluted.

Also... I take issue with his comment that Soapstone 'is unique in that it holds and radiates heat'. (and the inverse cold)

All stones do that, anything dense does that really. Using stone as a heatsink in buildings is nothing new.

Of course all stones do that, but I'm guessing he's saying soapstone has a relatively high specific heat capacity, so it can absorb more heat than most other stones, making it a good choice for whiskey stones.>> ^spoco2:

Also... I take issue with his comment that Soapstone 'is unique in that it holds and radiates heat'. (and the inverse cold)
All stones do that, anything dense does that really. Using stone as a heatsink in buildings is nothing new.

Yea, my understanding is that it was usually used because of its ability to withstand extreme heat without cracking. It's basically "tempered stone" if you will. >> ^spoco2:

Also... I take issue with his comment that Soapstone 'is unique in that it holds and radiates heat'. (and the inverse cold)
All stones do that, anything dense does that really. Using stone as a heatsink in buildings is nothing new.