DailyDirt: I'd Like My Drink Sonicated, Not Stirred...

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from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fri, Feb 17th 2012 5:00pm — Joyce Hung

Chemists routinely use equipment like rotary evaporators, centrifuges, and ultrasonicators to extract, separate, and mix various chemicals in the lab. But, the same equipment can also be used to prepare unique and tasty drinks. Why settle for ordinary? Classic beverages are getting a makeover thanks to the creative use of modern technology. Here are a few examples.

Manhattan bar Booker & Dax uses molecular gastronomy techniques to give cocktails the "mad scientist" treatment. The bartenders are known to light drinks on fire with a 1,500-degree Fahrenheit red hot poker, extract essences from herbs with a rotary evaporator, clarify fruit juices with a centrifuge, and age wine or whiskey with ultrasonic waves. [url]
In 2009, Coca-Cola introduced the Freestyle soda fountain, which features a touchscreen interface and more than 100 different flavor options that can be mixed however the user wants. The machines use "PurePour" technology -- originally designed for measuring exact amounts of dialysis and cancer drugs -- and they send data about beverage consumption, peak times, and popular locations to Coca-Cola's Atlanta headquarters, which can order the machines to stop serving drinks immediately in case a flavor is discontinued or recalled. [url]
In 2011, Pepsi unveiled their Social Vending System, which features a touchscreen interface and allows users to gift a Pepsi drink to a friend, along with a recorded video message. The machine will send a text message to the friend with a special code that they can use to redeem their gift at the nearest Pepsi Social Vending System. [url]
To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: beverages, chemistry equipment, drinks, food, molecular gastronomy, vending machines
Companies: coca-cola, pepsi

12 Comments

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Echo, 17 Feb 2012 @ 5:21pm

Oh great, Coca Cola invented DRM. (Drink Rights Management)
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- Bergman (profile), 18 Feb 2012 @ 8:50am
  
  Re:
  Yeah. Apparently you aren't buying the syrup for the vending machine anymore, you're just licensing it. Coca Cola can reach into your fridge to revoke the drinks you've already purchased.
  
  I wonder though; Syrup is taxed when it is sold...is there a tax on licensed beverages?
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fb39ca4, 17 Feb 2012 @ 5:53pm

Exactly what I thought^ D:
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David (profile), 17 Feb 2012 @ 6:38pm

I like the coke machine, tho
I found one at a restaurant in Ft Lauderdale (Pei-Wei Diner). It was great! 20 different flavors of Diet Coke, all on hand. Is is such a bad thing that they can recall a flavor if there is trouble...

It increases choice and value. It actually shows a lot of innovation on their part. Ir can also let them know what flavors to market in supermarkets, as it acts as a survey machine, telling them what people buy.
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- Andrew Norton (profile), 17 Feb 2012 @ 7:20pm
  
  Re: I like the coke machine, tho
  I've been seeing them in Atlanta since they were first trialed (the Popeyes just around the corner from the Marietta Big Chicken was one of the first trial places)
  
  Two of my local Wendies have had them for a year now, I was there Saturday when they were adding more plain coke (they can run out of plain coke, but NOT any of the coke flavours)
  
  Here's a pick of the inside of the freestyle machine
  http://db.tt/wzUtIwWB
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  - Andrew Norton (profile), 17 Feb 2012 @ 7:25pm
    
    Re: Re: I like the coke machine, tho
    Oh yeah, and I'm the WORST customer for surveys since I must have gone to the machine 20 times int he hour we were there. and done half the combinations, mixing them in the cup...
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Feb 2012 @ 6:42pm

Ultrasonic glasses cleaner
The article makes me want to go home and try make instant coffee with my ultrasonic glasses cleaner.

But I guess it'll just taste like my everyday coffee.
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 17 Feb 2012 @ 8:47pm

Fahrenheit!? Pah!
Fahrenheit is a toy temperature scale. REAL temperatures are measured in Kelvin, a scale where zero means zero!

</Awaits puny Fahrenheit-scaled flamebait>
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- Pixelation, 18 Feb 2012 @ 6:00am
  
  Re: Fahrenheit!? Pah!
  Ha! Kelvin requires no imagination. Fahrenheit requires thinking. If it isn't complicated how can it be useful? Kelvin is an *absolute zero!
  
  *Disclaimer...No relation to Coke Zero.
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  - Al Bert (profile), 18 Feb 2012 @ 11:33am
    
    Re: Re: Fahrenheit!? Pah!
    Come now, surely we can come to a compromise!
    What we need here is Rankine for absolute measurement and compatibility with Fahrenheit scale.
    
    But i guess it's not that complicated.
    How about using the Delisle scale instead?
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Feb 2012 @ 7:47pm

the freestyle soda fountain is a terrible idea. you think its a great idea until you stand behind 10 grandmas confounded by how to work it.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 1:24pm

When I was a kid (a few decades ago), we would mix together all the drinks from the self-serve fountain at the roller rink. It was called a "suicide." I can't believe the combination of Sunkist, Nehi, Country-Time, Coca-Cola, and Tab never caught on.
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