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Weed_O_Whirler t1_jeah6ou wrote

The shaved ice would cool down the soup faster, because it would melt faster. But after both were completely melted, it would have cooled down the same.

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KRA2008 t1_jed09ku wrote

This is why I have a nerd rant in my back pocket all the time about those gigantic whiskey ice cubes. They're sold as cooling your whiskey without diluting it, and that's kind of true in that it dilutes it more slowly, but by diluting it more slowly it also cools it more slowly, meaning the whiskey is warmer while you're drinking it. On top of that many whiskey experts suggest a splash of water in your whiskey to begin with.

The important thing here is that the heat of enthalpy of water/ice is huge compared to the heat capacity of either liquid water or ice. Ice cools by melting!

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snakeskinrug t1_jeejlw3 wrote

I use those big cubes and like them precisely because they have less surface area than a handful of ice the same size and won't cool it as fast. You want the whiskey cooled, but not ice cold. You can always speed up the cooling if you want by swirling and increasing the convection rate.

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KRA2008 t1_jeer5tm wrote

Well that’s fine, that’s a preference thing, but it’s just false advertising to claim it works like conventional ice in every way but better.

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