Don’t Drink UntilYou See the Blue of the Mountains
It is Bill Coors who is credited with inventing the first aluminum can for beer, in 1959. He was probably instrumental in selling more can openers, irreverently referred to as church keys, than anyone else.
Now MillerCoors has announced a new innovation in the world of beer cans: A can that will tell you when the beer is cold enough to drink.
No, the can doesn’t actually speak. I’m sure that technology is available, but that would be just too creepy. The new can for Coors Light features the iconic white Rocky Mountains on the container. When the beer reaches what a press release says is the “optimal drinking temperature,” the mountains turn blue.
The press release leaves out the little detail of just what that optimal temperature might be. My guess is that it is exactly the same temperature that it takes to turn the mountains blue. (Update: a spokesman for Coors says the can can (can can?) start turning color at 47 degrees and reaches full blueness at 43 degrees.)
I want to think this is a good idea and that it actually works. Many times I’ve ordered a beer in a bar only to find the can had just been added to the cooler and wasn’t the “optimal drinking temperature.” And a bartender who just grabs the can out of the fridge or a bin of ice can’t always tell (or doesn’t care). Also, if a can is immersed in icy water, couldn’t the mountains turn blue before the liquid is fully cooled? I think this is more gimmicky than practical, not that there’s anything wrong with that. MillerCoors is in the business of selling beer, and gimmicks sell products.
But there is another problem I see with this particular gimmick, even if I’m wrong and the technology works perfectly. Even when the beer is served at that mysterious optimal temperature, you’re still drinking Coors Light.