Important Philosophical Questions...

[njnydigger]

Don't know why, but, I recently noticed myself doing something a bit odd. I like ice in my drinks. Soda, alcohol, etc. Whereas some people do not. Anyways, got to thinking today and wondered this...

Why do I swirl the ice around in my beverage after filling the cup up? Does it REALLY make the drink colder faster as one would assume?? Would not leaving the drink alone with the ice in there achieve the same affect I mean, they are not magic crystals that mysteriously activate when swirled around, correct?!?! So, why do I do it then?

Which comes to my questions...

Are you a swirler or not? And, regardless of if you are or not, do you think that the swirl technique DOES INDEED chill beverages quicker, or, is it just plain madness??

 

[The Beep Goes On]

Swirling would have an effect. Mixing equalizes temperature removing the cold layer surrounding the ice replacing it with the surrounding warmer liquid increasing the rate of melt increasing the rate of temperature reduction. The swirling would only affect the rate of cooling. The temperature of the liquid when the ice melted would be the same whether swirled or not. At least I think so.

Plus, it gives you something to do.

 

[dpitt8]

only time i usually swirl is if i'm adding sugar to ice tea

 

[lonesomebob]

In case it's scotch, then dont polute the holy water. Bob

 

[packerbacker]

The reason you stir it is because you are a control freak. There, I've said it. You have to think you are adjusting the drinks to meet your specific ideal coldness. What you are actually doing is watering down your drink. Do you shake your 1 gallon milk carton before pouring your glass of milk? Probably not but, I bet, when you get those little cartons of milk like you'd get in school, you give them a little shake before you open them. Why's that? You also like to hear the sound of the ice cubes against the container, especially glass. However, that doesn't explain why deaf people do it.
Here's my family recipe for removing the enamel from your teeth: Chew ice!

 

[Unicorn]

It's force of habit.


U.

 

[bigscoop]

When I'm drinking heavy I swirl, but I do it because I like to study that little vortex forming in the middle of the glass, but then I fall off the cow and into the swimming pool.

 

[spartacus53]

Better yet... The majority of people are right handed and when they stir a drink, they stir counter clockwise..... and when you mix in a bowl, you stir clockwise... go figure

 

[DigginThePast]

I swirl clockwise on this side of the equator only. When on the other I swirl counter-clockwise. Does this mean I'm not always in my right mind?

 

[bigscoop]

I swirl clockwise on this side of the equator only. When on the other I swirl counter-clockwise. Does this mean I'm not always in my right mind?

bi-polar?

 

[DigginThePast]

I swirl clockwise on this side of the equator only. When on the other I swirl counter-clockwise. Does this mean I'm not always in my right mind?

bi-polar?

 

[George (MN)]

Yes, swirling speeds melting. I tried with room temperature water, added ice & kept stirring fast & the ice melted fast.

Liking stuff really cold might be of American origin. At least I heard Brits like their beer/ale at maybe 45-55 degrees & I don't think they have ice in their tea. Best wishes, George (MN)

 

[Unicorn]

That's right George, we don't drink iced tea, just add a wee drop of milk to it. As for the warm beer.....just terrible rumours started by the Americans . No in actual fact it was only after the War that we were lucky enough to start and get refrigeration, so that's how the Americans (servicemen) think we drink our beer warm. It' cold now, well in most pubs it is

U.

 

[ivan salis]

mentally your bored -- its something to "do" -- you use all sorts of "psudo logic" to justify doing it -- and you posted this topic because your a "person who is bored to death" and needs badly needs mental stimulation -- if you had sat on the leather couch while being told that --it would have cost big $$$

free help --worth exactly whatca paid for it , hey I'm no doctor.

 

[ivan salis]

it never gets warm enough in england to justify "cool iced tea"

however the sunless damp cold english weather is ideally suited to a "warm cuppa tea" with a bit of cream and sugar.

 

[vibes]

stir and swirl is for amateurs...I'm a shaker from way back.

 

[bill-USA]

stir and swirl is for amateurs...I'm a shaker from way back.

Are we talking drinks here, or dance?

 

[spartacus53]

stir and swirl is for amateurs...I'm a shaker from way back.

You shakers do make some great furniture

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

I always hated ice in my drinks - the cubes would always melt faster than I could drink the drink, and dilute whatever it was - mixed drinks, lemonade, soda pop.

Then we moved to the desert. And I have been a "gotta have ice and lots of it" ever since. Nothing quenches a desert thirst like ice - you don't even need the beverage, just the ice.

And, I swirl it - but I know why I swirl it. Melting ice gets stuck between the cubes, and, when you swirl it, it gets to the bottom of the cup faster, so you can suck it up with your straw. When the cubes get small enough, then get popped into my mouth, and I chew on them. (I guess I have everyone's mental issues!)

There is an old story about this woman who was baking ham. She carefully cut a slice off of each end of the ham before she placed it in the oven
pan. Her daughter asked her why she did that. The woman said, "because that's the way my mother did it". Later that day, the woman's parents
came for a ham dinner, and the woman decided to ask her mother about slicing the ends off the ham. The woman's mother said "because that's the way my mother did it". A few weeks later, the woman went to the nursing home her grandmother was in to visit, and the subject turned to cooking. The woman asked her grandmother - why do you cut the ends off the ham before you bake it? The grandmother said "because all I had was a small roasting pan, and I cut off the ends so the ham would fit in it".

Just goes to show the things we pick up from other people - sometimes not knowing why - and not even being aware of it - like swirling ice.


Beth