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Eutectic Cup

For purposes of coffee enjoyment
  [vote for,

So, you want a cup of coffee? Good, there are many ways of doing that. Nearly all of them produce a cup of coffee that is too hot. Or at least they should. Now, we all have lives to be getting on with and don't need to be sitting around in cafes having healthy conversations with good friends while the coffee cools to a drinkable temperature. That's basically being French. The other problem with coffee, is that after it's too hot, it's too cold. Now, we all have lives to be getting on with and don't need to be standing around with a scrunched up face after accidentally drinking cold coffee. Then everyone looks Finnish.

Let's solve it. So, double wall cup, between the walls, a wax which melts at... oooh, say 75C or something, maybe people can choose their own temperature. Anyhow, you add 88C coffee and immediately the heat energy goes into melting the wax, rapidly reducing the intra-cup temperature to a perfectly drinkable 75. Now, here's the magic, if you insulate the outside of the cup well, the inside will be kept at 75 until all the wax is solid. Which is nice. That's what you want, coffee at the right temp, for ages. Done.

bs0u0155, Jun 12 2015

A primer on using wax/oil for thermal buffering. http://www.research...fccc8fb2a000000.pdf
Pretty much breaks down how you would choose the right wax, and how much energy you could expect to store. [WcW, Jun 12 2015]

Hot_20cubes [FlyingToaster, Jun 13 2015]


       yup, link, it's a great idea.
FlyingToaster, Jun 13 2015

       Screw this, I'm going to make one: double walled cup, wax, syringe, small air gap at the top, seal it with solder or metal epoxy.   

       First experiment, what is my personal coffee temp optimum?
bs0u0155, Jun 14 2015

       The office Keurig can't produce a coffee hotter than 70C into a pre warmed cup, the pathetic pseudo coffee machine it is. Anyway, 70 is hot pleasant, 68 is great 65 pretty quaffable, 60 not unpleasant. Below that it's starting to get nasty. I reckon 68 is a good one to aim for.
bs0u0155, Jun 14 2015

       I wonder how humans came to like hot food and drink? Surely there must’ve been a prolonged period from initiation of the species where the very notion of eating or drinking hot stuff equated with certain death ahead. After all, drinking hot lava from a volcano does that to you.
Ian Tindale, Jun 14 2015

       Whilst that is true, how did we think it was a good idea? Surely there’d be so many mistakes and mis- calibrated attempts that resulted in irreversible life changing injuries, that nobody would then think “ah, yes, but once that person stopped screaming in pain a few weeks later, they evidently (?) digested the scorching hot food and drink a bit easier and extracted the energy more efficiently — so maybe we should all do this”.
Ian Tindale, Jun 14 2015

       //made it far easier to extract the calories, less chewing, easier digestion //   

       Heat de-natures proteins (breaking the hydrogen bonds) so it is in effect "pre-digestion". The structure of substances such as collagen and chitin are degraded by pyrolysis, and produces a significant change in flavour.   

       Another less obvious advantage is that thorough cooking kills pathogens, parasites and their larvae, and allows storage of the cooked product for several days.
8th of 7, Jun 14 2015

       Baked a year or two ago. It's called Temperfect, IIRC. It was on Kickstarter.
notexactly, Jun 15 2015

       Yup, the general concept seems to be in the "temperfect" by "Joeveo". I've just fired off an email asking about the insulation. It could be phase change, or just thermal mass, let's see if they tell us.   

       If it's phase change, I'm buying one. Now I'm glad I bought Carnauba (melting point: 68C) rather than a 5 gallon drum of some Shell product. At least I can feasibly use Carnauba to polish my car* if it doesn't go in a mug.   

       *I can't afford a car :-(
bs0u0155, Jun 15 2015

       //Carnauba// Excellent stuff. Pity Rentishams have driven the price up.   

       Speaking of which, have you considered using Rentisham's "Sahara Formulation"? It's not often seen in the shops, but it's formulated to have a melting point of about 70°C and might be just the ticket.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 15 2015

       Ian, probably the ones that cooked the food survived longer when the winter hit.   

       And warm liquids are nice when it's cold out.
RayfordSteele, Jun 15 2015

       //Rentisham's "Sahara Formulation"? It's not often seen in the shops,//   

       Alas, I hear the US government have sequestered all supplies bound for the American continent. Word on the grapevine is that it is the sole candidate in a cost saving project by the department of defense. Apparently, while they are happy with MIL-L-63460, Rentisham's can fulfill each role, is a superior replacement for napalm, and is the only known substance invisible to RADAR, LIDAR, SONAR and the accounts department.
bs0u0155, Jun 15 2015

       Don't forget that Rentisham's can also be used to enhance the sheen of CEDAR.   

       That rumour is unfounded. Rentishams has never exported to the colonies, except for a very brief exception made when the Apollo program was in urgent need. At all other times, it has been (and remains) prohibited to export or take Rentisham's to the Americas.   

       In fact, a statement to this effect will be found on some of the products pictured on the Rentisham's website.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 15 2015

       Though never an official import, Canada has long enjoyed Rentisham's despite its being eligible for inclusion on both the "prohibited drugs" and "explosives" lists... unfortunately for quick-buck seekers, the dogs at the US border know their stuff.
FlyingToaster, Jun 15 2015

       //the dogs at the US border know their stuff//   

       and have VERY shiny coats.
bs0u0155, Jun 15 2015

       and some of them cannot be safely brought within 10 yards of a naked flame.   

       I'm afraid I'm going to have to let Boffo know about this. He's not going to be happy.   

       Of course, we have heard rumours of "mules" transporting Rentisham's illegally. This is one of the reasons why Rentisham's tubs and canisters are invariably short, squat and uncomfortably wide.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 15 2015

       email from the Temperfect people:   

       "Hi Dave,   

       Nailed it, we are using a phase changing wax. It's non-toxic and food safe. Thanks for your interest!   

       Logan Maxwell"   

       I'm off to buy one.
bs0u0155, Jun 18 2015

       They're not responding to email, and their website hasn't been updated in 18 months. Looks like an ill-advised DIY venture is in my future. They got $309k and haven't delivered a single mug. I'm in the wrong game.
bs0u0155, Jan 15 2016

       I thought Steve Gibson got his and was very happy with it. I'm almost a year behind on SN, though, so I could easily be wrong.
notexactly, Jan 15 2016

       My mug Shipped! update on performance pending delivery Monday/Tuesday.
bs0u0155, Aug 25 2017

       That's actually quite exciting - I'd like to see a graph of beverage temperature over time using this mug. Did you get two to enable you to test Two Cups of Coffee?
hippo, Aug 25 2017

       You will be provided with an utterly professional graph. The experimental conditions will involve comparison of the new eutectic mug with my standard coffee mug which already has "Ctrl" written on it. If someone could cover my regular workload for the first two days of next week I'd appreciate it. I have bought two of the mugs, but I fail to see how this will do anything but increase experimental variability.
bs0u0155, Aug 25 2017

       Call it the "Miracle Mug". Eutectic sounds like some kind of urinary tract infection.
doctorremulac3, Aug 25 2017

       Surely, as a biologist, you should reject the outlying value and then take the average of the remaining value?
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 25 2017

       Is that a euphemism for "progressively reject data until the remainder fits the theory" ?
8th of 7, Aug 25 2017

       //Surely, as a biologist, you should reject the outlying value and then take the average of the remaining value?//   

       I see you're a seasoned pro. I will take guidance from the literature, Outlying values will most certainly be removed using justifications such as "remove that, so we can end the axis on a whole number" "The grad student was totally unaware of what that inhibitor should have done... my paper from 1994 clearly shows the opposite effect... so..." "well, there's room temperature and room temperature..."   

       Once the data is in, I will immediately generate a mean data set +/- standard error of the mean, wasting time looking at the distribution of that data will not be tolerated. SEM is very convenient as the number of experiments is a fairly subjective... is it all the runs on a particular day? each sample? Perhaps each individual cell, or organelle? The key is to tweak it until the error bars look about right. Then, we can just throw repeated t- tests at everything. If your minions suggest this might not be correct, you need to work on lab culture.   

       Sadly, I've only got experience in labs that check stuff... I might need multiple cups of coffee over many days to get reliable data. Occasionally I might need a doughnut, or a slice of cake.
bs0u0155, Aug 25 2017

       // If your minions suggest this might not be correct, you need to work on lab culture. //   

       The Don's looking to recruit people with just that world view.   


       // Sadly, I've only got experience in labs that check stuff... //   

       There's your mistake, right there. Sign up for the Home Office Forensic Service. Then you can just write down any old rubbish, and get away with it for decades. When you're finally found out, just take early retirement.
8th of 7, Aug 25 2017

       " Once the data is in, I will immediately generate a mean data set "   

       Just another example of data bullying and those who enable it. Shame on you ....
normzone, Aug 25 2017

       What journal are you publishing in? I eagerly await it.
notexactly, Jan 10 2018


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