Recently I was contacted by a company called Original Balls of Steel [4]. They make steel balls with an “Arctic Core” that you can use to chill your bourbon. My editor and I shared several punny exchanges over this email. Ultimately, I told her I’d “give them a shot” and she responded, “Ball’s in your court!” The puns alone made this story worth pursuing.
As I read more about this company, I found this product actually uses those awkward puns for a good cause- testicular cancer research. Fifteen percent of each sale is donated to the Testicular Cancer Society [5] and the MD Anderson Cancer Center [6] for research and advancement of testicular cancer treatment. Plus, it’s a cheeky and fun way to get guys talking about early detection when you already have their attention (check your balls, dudes).
I called my sister, a scientist with a strong background in physics, to get her take on the product. She immediately pointed out that the steel material would cool a liquid faster than a stone because of something called “electron valence transfer.” Basically, according to my sister, the valence electrons in metals are better able to become delocalized, whereas the valence electrons in a stone are harder to delocalize and require a higher temperature differential to do so. Having just tried whiskey stones the week before, I knew I would be interested to see whether the science held up. (Click here [7]for more about thermal conductivity.)
Interestingly enough, I was able to tell a difference in the immediate temperature of my bourbon with the BOS. It also seemed to stay cool longer than with the stones.
I tried Balls of Steel first with my Booker’s 25th Anniversary 130.8 proof. Since I usually drink higher proof bourbon, I prefer it on the rocks both to chill it and to water it down a bit. So the balls of steel were great at cooling it, but the proof was too high for me to enjoy.
I tried it next with a Michter’s Small Batch 91.4 proof bourbon and it was perfect. There’s no need to water down anything under a hundred proof unless you just want to open up the bouquet, and it was chilled nicely.
I was skeptical when they first contacted me, but I’m glad I gave them a try. They even make an 18k gold “Executive Set” that retails for $499, $400 of which goes to MD Anderson and can be written off as a charitable contribution. Original Balls of Steel makes a great product with a great cause [8]and has the @LouGirl502 [9] seal of approval. (Click here [10]for products.)
Photos Courtesy of Original BOS and Maggie Kimberl