Slushy facts for kids
A layered slush drink
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| Alternative names | Slush, slushie, slushee, Icee, Slurpee. |
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| Type | Beverage |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | Kansas |
| Created by | Omar Knedlik |
| Variations | Carbonated, non-carbonated, alcoholic |
A slushy (also called a slush or slushie) is a super cool drink made from flavored ice and a liquid. It's a bit like a granita, but slushies are usually more liquidy. You might also hear them called a "frozen beverage" or "frozen drink." Slushies can be fizzy (carbonated) or not fizzy (non-carbonated). The fizzy ones are sometimes called "frozen carbonated drinks."
Contents
The History of Slushies
The very first machine to make fizzy slushies was invented by a man named Omar Knedlik. He owned a Dairy Queen restaurant. In the late 1950s, his soda machine kept having problems.
Around 1958, his soda machine completely broke down. So, he decided to store his soda bottles in his freezer. When he took them out, the soda had turned into a slushy mix! He decided to sell this slushy soda to his customers. People loved it, and it quickly became very popular.
Knedlik then decided to focus on making slushies. He hired Ruth Taylor to create the name and logo for his new company, which became The Icee Company. These early slushy machines used a system similar to a car's air conditioning. They worked by mixing and freezing flavored syrup, water, and carbon dioxide gas.
In 1960, Omar Knedlik teamed up with John Mitchell to make many slushy machines. They got a patent for their invention in 1962. Then, in 1965, the store 7-Eleven bought three ICEE machines. They made a deal with ICEE to use the name Slurpee for their own slushy drinks. At first, they could only sell Slurpees in American 7-Eleven stores. By the 1970s, you could find Slurpee machines in every 7-Eleven store across America.
Different Kinds of Slushies
Slushies come in two main types: carbonated (fizzy) and non-carbonated (not fizzy). They also come in tons of different flavors!
You can find slushies that taste like:
- Fruits: Like strawberry, watermelon, and pineapple.
- Sodas: Such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta.
- Other yummy flavors: Like caramel, chocolate, vanilla, and even iced coffee.
Some slushies are made with alcoholic drinks. These are called frozen alcoholic drinks.
How Slushies Are Made
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Fizzy slushies are made in machines that are a bit like regular soda fountains. First, concentrated flavor syrups are mixed with filtered water. Then, carbon dioxide gas is added to make it fizzy.
This fizzy mixture is then pumped into a special cylinder. This cylinder is surrounded by very cold freezer coils. The mixture starts to freeze onto the walls of the cylinder. A spinning blade, called a dasher, then scrapes the frozen bits off the wall. This dasher also keeps the whole mixture well-mixed.
Fizzy slushy machines often freeze the mix to a temperature much colder than water's freezing point. But the mix doesn't freeze solid! This is because of the pressure, the sugar in the mix, the carbon dioxide, and the constant stirring. Fizzy slushies tend to feel "drier" or less watery than non-fizzy ones.
Non-fizzy slushies are made by freezing a non-carbonated juice or other liquid. Many modern non-fizzy slushy machines use a spiral-shaped plastic dasher. This dasher scrapes ice crystals off a freezing cylinder. This cylinder is often part of a clear container where you can see the slushy. These slushies are usually "wetter" than fizzy ones. Machines for non-fizzy slushies don't need a special high-pressure chamber. This makes them cheaper and easier to take care of because they are simpler.
Slushies can also be made using a cool trick called supercooling. The very first slushies in the late 1950s and early 1960s were made this way. For a short time, Coca-Cola even sold supercooled Sprite in the United Kingdom. You needed a special vending machine to keep the bottles supercooled. When you opened the bottle, the Sprite would instantly turn into slush!
You can even try to make supercooled slushies at home. Pour a soda into a bottle, shake it, and put it in the freezer for about 3 to 3.5 hours. Then, you can either release the pressure and flip the bottle, slowly open it and pour it out, or drop a small piece of ice into the soda. Watch it turn to slush!
Slushy Temperature
Slush is made from a mix of sugar and water. To stop the mixture from freezing completely solid, there needs to be about 12% to 22% sugar in the liquid mix. The sugar acts like an antifreeze in the drink.
The slush machine constantly stirs or spins the mixture. This makes sure the sugar and water molecules mix together well before the water can freeze solid. This process creates the soft, wet, slushy texture we all love.
Some slushies have special ingredients added. These additives make the freezing temperature of the mix even lower. This means the drink can be served much colder than a regular water-based slushy.
Popular Slushy Brands
There are many well-known brands that make slushies.
- Brands famous for their fizzy slushies include Slurpee, ICEE, Thirst Buster, and Froster.
- Brands that make non-fizzy slushies include Slush Puppie and Del's.
See also
In Spanish: Slush (bebida) para niños
