As winter draws in, it may be difficult to remember, but there was a summer this year and, as ever, we British celebrated with barbecues and outdoor parties accompanied with the odd cold beverage (in moderation, of course).
The problem with cold beverages, of course, is that they don't start out cold and must be chilled. Normally, a certain amount of preparation is sufficient to ensure that there are enough cold drinks. Stocking up the refrigerator will do for a start, but if the gathering exceeds a certain size, one fridge won't be enough.
So what about ice buckets? These work, but still take time to chill things – plus there is the disadvantage that soaking wine and beer bottles can remove the labels, making it potentially difficult to distinguish between a low-alcohol and a full-strength lager – with potentially worrying results. Equally, ice melts and water warms up in the sun. And, of course, the chilling process still takes time.
And time is of the essence if the temperature's pushing 30oC and all you have is warm beer. Of course, drinks can be chilled reasonably quickly in the freezer, but this requires a careful eye to be kept on the time. Few things are more depressing than remembering too late that you've left drinks in the freezer, only to find a collection of burst bottles or cans and a range of beer or wine-flavoured ice lollies.
The Challenge
So this month's problem is to find a way of chilling drinks rapidly and effectively – in seconds, ideally, rather than minutes.
Some options suggest themselves, but each has its disadvantages. For instance, the deployment of liquid nitrogen would definitely chill the liquid rapidly – albeit to somewhere between -346°F and 320.44°F.
Alternatively, there are commercial methods for rapid cooling such as blast chillers, but these are expensive and even they may not be able to do the job in seconds.
The solution we have in mind is relatively low-tech, but makes use of basic thermodynamic principles to achieve the desired result. However, there is nothing to say that something better could not be achieved by Eureka's readers. We look forward to reading your ideas.
-Solution-
Solution to November 2013 Coffee Time Challenge
The solution to November's Coffee Time Challenge of how to chill drinks quickly comes from Florida-based start-up Spin Chill, which claims to have a solution to this vexing problem with a portable device that turns beverages ice cold in 60 seconds.
Invented by Ty Parker and Trevor Abbott, the basic principles of Spin Chill have been known since access to ice became common. If you spin a can in a tub of ice, it cools faster, because in spinning the can you cause convection in the can, while at the same time considerably increasing the surface area of the can that is actually touching ice.
The prototype was adapted from a power drill, a baby's bottle, and a great deal of duct tape, taking second place at the competition. Later refinements included using 3D printing to print the attachment known as the Chill Bit, which connects the power drill to a beverage container. The latest version of the Chill Bit will spin both cans and bottles.
As very few of us carry power drills around to parties or while tailgating (the inventors are mechanical engineers), the next logical step was to develop a self-contained unit for spin chilling. The resulting Beerouette is waterproof, and can spin a can or bottle to near freezing in less than a minute without requiring any attention while operating.
Doesn't all this spinning cause carbonated drinks to foam over when opened? Actually, you get less foam. When the can or bottle is spinning, the tiny bubbles in the carbonated liquid rise to the top of the spinning liquid, which is on the rotation axis, where they coalesce into a single large bubble. When the spinning stops, that large bubble is at the top of the can or bottle, where it can escape without fanfare when the container is opened.
Spin Chill is currently raising funds on Kickstarter to bring the idea to market.
