{"id":242,"date":"2015-08-12T10:40:36","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T17:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=242"},"modified":"2015-08-12T10:40:54","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T17:40:54","slug":"thermal-flow-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=242","title":{"rendered":"Thermal Flow Thoughts – Keeping the Martini Cold!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We mentioned thermal flow several times as part of discussions on keeping a drink cold.\u00a0 So I started wondering exactly what are the typical thermal paths for a Martini?<\/p>\n

First lets understand that cold doesn’t exist, there is only the absence of heat.\u00a0 Heat flows from warm to cold… or from cold to colder.\u00a0 So to make a Martini cold you pull heat out of the fluid by using something colder; using cold ice when we shake (or stir) the Martini.\u00a0\u00a0 We sometimes think its the other way around, so some of my comments below may seem backward.<\/p>\n

So heat flows to warm your Martini, or other cocktail, in the following ways:
\nFrom the air, through the glass bowl, and into the liquid.
\nFrom the counter, table, or bar top into the stem and then up into the liquid.
\nWhen being held, through the fingers or hand into the glass and then into the drink.\u00a0\u00a0 (Note that heat flow is\u00a0inversely proportional to length, i.e.,\u00a0heat flows less, or slower, through a longer path.\u00a0 A tall stem will conduct less heat up through the glass into the Martini that a short squat, bulbous stem.)<\/p>\n

So where does most of this drink warming\u00a0heat come from?\u00a0 Without doing a complete thermodynamic model (I’ve thought about it), it seems pretty clear that it is from the surrounding air.<\/p>\n

The thermal path up through the table is limited by a long thin stem.\u00a0 Heat from the hand is temporary, assuming your not holding the stem constantly.\u00a0 (See: “What’s the best way to hold the Martini?<\/a>” for previous comments on how to hold your Martini.)\u00a0 Which leaves the air which is constantly in contact with the bowl of the Martini, as the significant culprit warming your martini.<\/p>\n

So what’s the best solution?\u00a0 Other than moving to the Arctic or Antarctic, drinking in the freezer!\u00a0 Kidding aside, I’m stumped on this one.\u00a0 Surely drinking in an air conditioned bar will keep your drink colder than outside in the sun.\u00a0\u00a0 But having a nice Martini on a deck over looking the beach is just marvelous.<\/p>\n

Here are a couple suggestions to consider:
\nHold the stem as little as possible and by the rim or stem of the glass,
\nUse a coaster; its a thermal insulator and will minimize heat flow up through the stem,
\nKeep the drink in the shade if you’re outside.\u00a0 No need adding the sun’s warmth to the liquid,
\nUse a\u00a0Martini ‘coozie’???<\/p>\n

OMG, did I really say that?\u00a0 Sacrilegious!\u00a0 I’ll suffer penance with a cold Martini….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We mentioned thermal flow several times as part of discussions on keeping a drink cold.\u00a0 So I started wondering exactly what are the typical thermal paths for a Martini? First lets understand that cold doesn’t exist, there is only the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[17,10],"tags":[73,39,38,9,40,72],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":116,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=116","url_meta":{"origin":242,"position":0},"title":"Thoughts on Stemware, Part Two","author":"wlmoon58","date":"March 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A few more rambling thoughts on \"cold\" stemware....... We know that smaller things warm up quickly and larger object warm up more slowly. Specifically objects with larger thermal masses warm up more slowly. Usually, but not always, thermal mass correlates with object mass. Additionally some materials are thermal insulators, meaning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Martini"","block_context":{"text":"Martini","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":551,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=551","url_meta":{"origin":242,"position":1},"title":"Shaken vs. Stirred Revisited: Temperature","author":"wlmoon58","date":"June 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm baaaaack.\u00a0 (Think Schwarzenegger!)\u00a0 After the recent consecutive holidays (World Gin Day & National Martini Day) I took a couple of days off.\u00a0 But I'm back with more thoughts and, of course, more martini reviews. Since I've had this blog going, I've had a number of conversations on Shaken vs.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How To"","block_context":{"text":"How To","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":114,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=114","url_meta":{"origin":242,"position":2},"title":"Thoughts on Stemware, Part One","author":"wlmoon58","date":"March 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you have a preference on stemware? Perhaps you haven\u2019t thought too much about it. Many people\u2019s only desire is a clean stem for their drink. That\u2019s clearly a good start. I do have a preference; I want my Martini in a stem with some heft, some weight, and some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Martini"","block_context":{"text":"Martini","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":205,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=205","url_meta":{"origin":242,"position":3},"title":"Shaker Thoughts","author":"wlmoon58","date":"April 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Glass shakers vs. Metal shakers?\u00a0 Which is better?\u00a0 I think part of the answer depends on whether you store the shaker in the freezer (or fridge). If you store it in the freezer then the greater thermal mass of the glass shaker will help you chill the martini as you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How To"","block_context":{"text":"How To","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":103,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=103","url_meta":{"origin":242,"position":4},"title":"Cold Ice Please!","author":"wlmoon58","date":"April 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What is cold ice? Ice melts at 32F so we know that ice cannot be warmer than 32F. But it can be colder. Many restaurants\u2019 freezers are set at OF which means ice pulled from a Freezer will be at OF.\u00a0 So? So, cold ice will absorb more heat out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How To"","block_context":{"text":"How To","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":409,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=409","url_meta":{"origin":242,"position":5},"title":"Perfect Coffee!","author":"wlmoon58","date":"May 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"No, this is not a post on how to make perfect coffee.\u00a0 I have my hands full with a Perfect Martini.\u00a0 But I wanted to elaborate on something about which I've been preaching.\u00a0 And that is properly chilling the martini stem.\u00a0 And to illustrate that I'm going to use hot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How To"","block_context":{"text":"How To","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=242"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242\/revisions\/857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}