If you don’t have time to make coffee ice cubes or chill your espresso post-brew, this hack is for you.
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Andy Lyons
I’m a cappuccino lover, but when it’s the middle of summer and the weather app reads, “Feels Like 105,” you can be sure I have an iced coffee in hand. When I don’t want to spend $7 on an iced latte to get my morning caffeine fix, I turn to my trusty Nespresso.
To avoid melting the ice too quickly, I brew a double espresso and chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes prior to assembling the iced latte. Needless to say, it requires some time and patience. As any iced-coffee drinker knows, the extra time is worth it—if you brew hot coffee directly over ice, your end product is a lukewarm cup of watery joe, which no one wants.
What is the TikTok iced coffee spoon hack?
On Instagram, @abilunain presented a solution to the dilution dilemma—one you’d likely deny until you try. All you have to do is place a metal spoon in your fresh cup with ice before pouring over the hot liquid, and voila! The spoon magically keeps everything cold. (Well… sort of.)
I figured this hack was too good to be true, so I decided to put it to the test for myself. To my surprise, it was quite effective. The ice diluted a bit, but not nearly as much as usual. Intrigued, I hit the books (aka the internet) to understand how this phenomenon works on a scientific level.
What I found was nothing short of what your high school physics classes would tell you—but it’s easier to understand with a first-hand example. Think about all the times you’ve left a spoon in your hot mug of coffee or tea for a few minutes and suddenly the handle of your utensil is warm, although it never made contact with the liquid. This is exactly what’s happening here, too.
Related: The 12 Best Coffee Mugs
The scientific term for this interaction is called conduction. The American Chemical Society breaks this down easily for us: Essentially, the molecules in hot coffee are moving very quickly. When these hot molecules are poured in the cup with the ice and spoon, they bump into the spoon and ice’s cool atoms, which are moving at a much slower rate. This exchange transfers energy into the spoon, by result, transferring heat out of the coffee.
It’s not a flawless fix, though. If you try this hack you’ll notice that the ice still melts a bit—but why is that?
As I learned after doing a bit of research, the spoon acts as a vehicle for some of the coffee’s heat to transfer to, but the hot molecules impact the ice cubes, too.
As physics tells us, all of the elements at play—the coffee, ice, and spoon—are working to become the same temperature and find equilibrium. So instead of just coffee and ice working together, the added spoon will subtract the grunt of some of that heat— but not all.
Related: How to Make Your Space Feel Like Your Favorite Coffee Shop with Cafécore
How the Hack Worked for Me
I decided to conduct my own experiment. I attempted the hack with ice and a spoon in my fresh glass, then with the spoon in the mug of hot espresso before transferring to the ice, and finally with a cold spoon in both.
The verdict: The spoon definitely makes a difference, but the least diluted outcome came when I placed the spoon in the cup of ice before pouring the hot coffee, per @abilunain’s recommendation. It transfers the liquid’s temperature at a much faster rate than the spoon in the hot mug.
The spoon is a time saver, but if you’re a stickler for a crisp and strong iced coffee, I’d recommend chilling your brew in the fridge. Maybe even go the extra mile and make coffee or creamer ice cubes in place of your average water cubes.
Related: How to Easily Make Cold Brew Coffee at Home
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