Seven Everyday Experiences Ruined by Changing Their Temperature.
One of my favorites parts of working at EMBR is getting to bore my friends about the role temperature plays in their daily life. These last few weeks of summer especially have been fun for me because our outdoor enjoyment has varied wildly depending whether it’s a 75 or 85 degree day, and I get to tease them about just how much temperature affects us. By the time September rolled around, my friends were sick of hearing me talk about temperature and how the only reason they enjoy their morning shower is because they control the water temperature. (Don’t believe me? Just ask anyone who whose roommate or spouse consistently uses up all the hot water.) Since my friends were bored by my thermal obsession, I figured I should try telling the internet instead. To that end, I present a list of my favorite experiences that depend highly on temperature.
- Hot Springs. Just imagining the disappointment you’d experience the moment you step into a hot spring only to discover it’s lukewarm or cold water. What was supposed to be a relaxing oasis just transformed into a letdown.
- Chili. One of the winter’s best comfort foods is best served steaming hot, while a bowl of room temperature or cold chili just doesn’t satisfy. No one has ever come back from a day of skiing, sledding, or winter exploring and been happy to sit down to a bowl of cold chili.
- Coffee/Tea. These beverages are the rare double threat that can be delicious both hot or cold (shout out to our iced tea and iced coffee readers), but how ever you prefer it room temperature or lukewarm just won’t cut it. These are drinks that are best enjoyed at thermal extremes, and when my hot coffee cools down or my iced tea warms up it just doesn’t do it for me.
- Hot Potato. This classic children’s game gets all its excitement from the risk of getting burned by a potato at a high temperature. If the potato is not hot, then you’re just playing catch with a potato and might as well replace it with a baseball or tennis ball.
- Hot Pocket. A self-described “pop culture phenomenon” and familiar snack to many college students, this snack is so dependent on temperature that its in the name. The folks at Nestlé know this class of pockets are best enjoyed piping hot. Cold or Room Temperature Pocket? Not so much.
- Beer. Just ask the folks at Coors Light how important cold is to the enjoyment of a beer. Their commercials make it seem like the temperature is even more important than the beer itself, and anyone who has ever had the misfortunate of sipping a warm beer on a hot summer day can a test that more of the refreshment comes from the temperature than the alcohol or hops.
- Snow Cone. A snow cone without temperature is just sugar water. Try sipping room temperature water mixed with sugar syrup and see if that’s refreshing. Yet all you have to do is cool down the water until it freezes and you have a summer staple.
As the season changes and we transition from ice tea to pumpkin latté and remember to bring our Fall coat, we can’t help but become more aware of temperature. Whether you’re like me and celebrate the changing temperature by lecturing your friends about how cool contrasting temperatures are, or you dread the cold weather and long for hot sand and the ocean (no one wants to run around on a beach with cold sand), you want temperature on your terms. We want our hot pockets to be just hot enough and our ice coffee to stay cold forever, because like it or not temperature change changes everything. So as you’re noticing the temperature change in these coming weeks, be on the lookout for the unexpected thermal essence of your everyday experiences, and share your favorite discovery with us on social media using #thermalessence.
