Flickr Find: Dry Ice Lemonade

With the recent talk of using dry ice in our kitchens, this idea for making dry ice lemonade is highly appealing. Sure it would look neat and impress your guests, but the thought of not having to make more than one ice run for our next party is rather liberating — hear our thoughts on how to make it at home.

You can find the tried and true recipe in the book, The Hungry Scientist Handbook, though we're guessing any lemonade recipe will suffice. Since the dry ice turns to Co2 (in gas formation) as it sublimates or thaws, it's best to use a straw when consuming a beverage which has a chunk of dry ice in it. The air at the top of the glass will be displaced and a straw will keep your lungs air free and your tummy full of chilled lemonade!

Dry ice will also cause the appearance of bubbles being rapidly released on the surface. It's not boiling, but is a simple sign/side effect of the solid-gas change taking place. Just make sure you secure a block of dry ice before the party starts and chip it into pieces small enough to fit into a glass. Make sure to wear protective gloves and possibly eyewear. Enjoy!

• Related: Flickr Find: Smoked Lemons & Lemonade

(Image: Flickr member oskay licensed for use by Creative Commons)

Comments (8)

make sure no one swallows the dry ice… it can severely burn you and cause permanent damage to your mouth and esophagus

My husband makes dry-ice rootbeer in a pressure cooker. It actually carbonates! But you do have to drink it right away...

e-lud: Make sure and send us pictures next time!

I was served a cocktail once in a restaurant with a chunk of dry ice in the glass. I liked the fact I could enjoy it slowly, but it stayed cold.

Somehow they "stuck" the dry ice to the glass. So there was no chunk of dry ice bobbing around that one might swallow or even have touch ones lips and get injured. Always wondered how they did that.

This is really dangerous if you aren't drinking it with a straw, like bikepenguin said, this can cause severe burns inside and out.

@e-lud: I was going to say root beer too!

You don't need to use a pressure cooker...you can just use a bucket with a lid and dry ice and you'll end up with carbonated root beer.

http://www.root-beer.org/recipe11.htm

I have had drinks cooled with dry ice, and it is nice that they stay cold for so long, and they look cool.

However, after a while the carbon dioxide bubbling through the drink dissolves quite a bit of CO2 in the liquid, so it tastes a little like flat soda. I guess you might not taste it in something as sour as lemonade, but for less flavorful drinks it's a consideration.

Also, I guy I used to work with chilled his Coke with some dry ice and accidentally inhaled a little piece while drinking it. It sublimated in his lung, pushing out all the air and suffocating him. He had to go to the hospital but fully recovered quickly. So... don't do that. Be careful!

Oh, PLEASE highlight dry ice ice cream!
Make an ice cream base, put it in a stand mixer, then add in finely crushed dry ice until it's frozen.
The effect is AWESOME and it sets in about 30 seconds.