Steps
1.
Take the temperature of the drink. This step is optional; once you open a can, this method won't be as effective. If this is your first time trying it, though, it may be interesting to record how drastically the temperature can change.
2.
Fill a bowl with water and add ice to it. Add as much ice to the water as you can, but not so much that it prevents the entire beverage container from being submerged into the water. A 50/50 mix of ice and water is a good rule of thumb.
3.
Add table salt to the ice. A small handful should do. Adding salt lowers the melting temperature of the ice.
4.
Place your drinks in the ice water solution and rapidly stir them all around. By stirring, you're using forced convection to speed the transfer of heat out of your drink and into the ice water solution.
5.
Wait two minutes. Take the temperature of one of the drinks - the temperature should have fallen dramatically in a very short time. If it needs more time chilling, stir the remaining drinks in the salted ice water for another minute or two.
6.
Enjoy your cold drink. It should now be about the perfect temperature to quench your thirst.
Tips
* This will work with just about any drink, in a conveniently sized can or bottle.
* This method is amazingly better than merely adding ice cubes to the glass of warm coke. Placing ice cubes directly into the drink causes it to become diluted and lose its fizz and snappy flavor.
* Smaller containers will chill more rapidly than large containers because the smaller ones have much more surface area in contact with the cold water per unit volume.
* If you don't have salt, then plain water plus ice is still more effective than ice alone at chilling containers. This is because the liquid water is a better heat conductor than air (many times better), and the ice by itself can't cover much of the container's surface.
* If you want a cold drink immediately and happen to have an extra CO2 gas fire extinguisher laying around, there is another, faster way. By blasting your can of soda with the extinguisher for only a few seconds, your drink will be icy cold. This only works with CO2 extinguishers which leave no residue as others will leave you with nothing more than a drink covered in fire retardant powder, stale water, or a mess of foam. However, it is recommended that you save your extinguisher for a true emergency.
* If you do not have extra clean water available, using ice alone and stirring it and the drinks around in the ice is still better than just putting the drinks in an ice chest with ice still in the bag with the drinks sitting on top or in a refrigerator. Air which is less dense than water can not absorb and conduct as much heat away from the containers compared to water.
o So to have cooler air circulating among the pieces of ice, try putting the bowl in a bag and tie it closed, and then swirl the bowl a little every 15 to 30 seconds to stir the drinks.
* Make sure to at least rinse the can top in clean, potable water before you drink the beverage. The salt that may be left on the can lid may cause the beverage to taste very salty.
Warnings
* Carbonated cans may become pressurized after rapidly stirring in the ice water. Opening cans before the carbonation has a chance to settle may cause an overflowing mess.
