Using dry ice is the best way to get that creepy, spooky grave yard effect. It gives the impression that you’re serving some sort of concoction or brew rather than plain old homemade punch. You can pretty much make any type of beverage using dry ice so grab your favorite punch recipe, and some dry ice for a spooky brew.
What It Is
Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. Dry ice must be handled carefully because it is much colder than regular ice. In fact, you should always use gloves when handling dry ice. (Think about how when it’s really, really cold outside, your skin seems to stick to everything? Handling dry ice without gloves is kind of painful!) Dry ice is so named because it goes directly from a solid to a gas stage without passing through the liquid stage.
Tips for Handling Dry Ice
You can put dry ice right into the beverage as long as the dry ice is ‘food grade’. If you pick up your dry ice at an ice cream shop or supplier, you can simply ask if it’s food grade and they’ll let you know that it’s safe to put into beverages. When you’re using dry ice, do NOT add regular ice to the drink. Dry ice will cool the beverage on its own. In addition, dry ice works better on room temperature beverages. You’ll get the most fog and bubbles with room temperature liquid.
Always use large pieces of dry ice. You shouldn’t eat or serve the dry ice to guests as it is obviously not just frozen water. When the dry ice is mostly ‘used up’, it will turn into ice and begin to float. At this point, you should replace the dry ice with another piece. NEVER serve it.
My Favorite Brew:
1 bottle of dark grape juice
1 bottle of pineapple juice (for the best effect use the strange pulpy kind)
Mix together and add 2 to 4 pounds of dry ice and voila–a strange concoction that kids will be coming back for!
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