The Metal Spoon Hack That Helps Make Your Iced Coffee Less Watered Down
Whether you're an iced, cold brew, or nitro drinker, making a cold coffee at home always feels like a little bit of an indulgence, especially in the warmer months when even the idea of a hot beverage sends you into a full body sweat. But, by its nature, you have to take a hot cup of coffee, and bring it down to arctic temperatures. So, just add ice, right?
If you feel like sipping on tepid ice chip soup, then sure. But if you want to avoid watered down java, you're going to want to follow this clever iced coffee hack: Put a cold spoon in your iced coffee.
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This TikTok-approved trick works by allowing a metal spoon to act as a conductor for heat, drawing it out of the coffee and up into the handle of the spoon. The electrons in the metal of the spoon are dense but flexible, and are able to transfer the fast-moving heat molecules in the coffee away from the slow-moving molecules of the ice, which would otherwise melt on impact from the collision of molecules moving at different speeds. This is the same process through which metal is used as a conductor in many technological applications, for transferring both heat and electricity from one element to another.
How to keep iced coffee cold
In order to try this hack, simply add your spoon to a glass of ice before you pour your coffee, and allow it to work its magic. Copper and aluminum are ace conductors, so on the off chance you have a spoon made from one of these materials, that would be ideal to use. Other metal kitchen implements should work as well, including metal straws. You should still expect some dilution, but this trick will definitely help keep your ice from melting right away.
You can also compound a few different iced coffee tricks in order to really avoid a watery beverage. First off, making espresso instead of drip or French press coffee produces a smaller, stronger coffee, which will not suffer as much from dilution of flavor when iced. (Technically, this would produce a drink closer to an iced americano, where you don't need to add water because the ice will melt somewhat.) If you have a steady hand, you can also try pouring your coffee into your cup of ice from high in the air, similar to how hot drinks are poured in Moroccan tea ceremonies. Exposure to air will help cool the liquid on the way down. Just be careful not to make a mess!