London (England) – An English inventor claims his ultrasonic machine can replicate years of wine and whiskey aging in just minutes.  53-year-old Casey Jones has developed a $600 gadget that resembles an ice bucket.  You simply pop a bottle of cheap wine inside and within 30 minutes you’ll have great wine that would have cost you several hundred dollars.

Jones says his machine sends ultrasound waves into the bottle which stirs up the alcohol molecules which, on the atomic level, is like shaking the bottle vigorously millions of times.  The shaking accelerates the collisison of alcohol molecules, which according to Jones is the basis of how liquor gets progressively better with time.

The induced aging process is effective enough to work on any alcohol and Jones claims it can turn horrible whisky into the equivalent of 8-year-old single malt.  Your average Trader Joes’s two to three-year-old wine can be magically converted into 20-year-old vintage wine.

But the fantastic claims don’t end there.  The molecular shaking also makes the alcohol easier to absorb, thereby eliminating hangovers.  Jones’ contraption also promises to brighten the color and improve the taste of orange juice.

What’s interesting is that wines and whiskey are aged in wood barrels and the alcohol’s interaction with the wood is what gives it flavor.  Furthermore, batches of liquor are produced with different mixes of fruit and ingredients – more expensive liquor generally uses costlier raw materials.  It would be great if the gadget actually works, but we don’t see how ultrasonic can be magically transmuting molecules.

Back in 1963, researchers at the University of California at Davis, toyed around with ultrasonic treatment of alcohol .  They discovered that ultrasonic agitation left wines with a scorched flavor and generally lowered quality scores.

Read more ... Daily Mail

Comments (11)