Stainless steel/soapstone "ice" cubes

[whatausername]

Has anyone tried them? Are they effective at cooling your drink?

My ex has some for his whiskey. Said they were crap.

Yes. I got some for my DP and they are great, they keep drinks cold and just need a quick rinse before popping back into the freezer.

You are delightfully efficient. That must have been about 60 seconds to get a reply :-D

Tried them hated them … just weird

Mine are granite. Work perfectly.

Never found any that work. I use reusable ice cubes or giant ice cubes instead now

About the same length of time the whiskey stayed cold

The kids bought my husband some for Christmas. He says they are rubbish, but uses them as he doesn’t want to upset them!

DH found them pointless.

That's a mixed bag of responses but the general attitude seems to be they are not worth it. I wonder if the material makes a difference. @Eyesopenwideawake what kind does your DP have?

I've not tried them, but they can't chill as well as ice. Ice doesn't just cool the drink because it's cold, its because it takes heat from the liquid to melt it.

This is true but I am curious whether the alternatives cool drinks enough to be worthwhile. The reduction in cooling could be worth it if the drinks still become cool.

Found an old thread where people seemed worried about them clinking off their teeth. That's put me off!

I'd be worried they might smash my glass

I've not tried them, but they can't chill as well as ice. Ice doesn't just cool the drink because it's cold, its because it takes heat from the liquid to melt it. both take energy from the drink until the cooling thing and the drink are the same temperature.

You could probably just put your drink in the fridge? Or even the glass.

both take energy from the drink until the cooling thing and the drink are the same temperature.

But the ice will cool better, and for longer. All the stones can do is equilibrate their temperature, there isn't the latent heat part.
Maybe those water-filled cubes are the best bet if you want a chilled but undiluted drink - though they may not look as cool as the stones.

It’s possible that the energy required to raise water to room temperature is more than to raise whatever the blocks are made of, I don’t think you can assume that’s true though or that the state is particularly relevant (state as in gas liquid or solid)

I find that the stones aren't as efficient as ice (for reasons mentioned by PPs), but I do enjoy the initial cooling effect and the compromise is worth it as I don't like diluted drinks.

Quite a nice alternative is using frozen fruit:
Frozen orange slices for Aperol Spritz
Frozen lemon/lime wedges or summer berries for gin
Frozen melon/mango/anything else for other drinks (children love melon in soft drinks)

I've got some giant ice cube trays (round and square), they don't melt as quickly as normal ice cubes and they look really cool in the glass.

It's not an 'assumption', latent heat is a basic scientific reality.