Minty Fresh, Freezing Cold

January 18, 2007 1:03 PM

Why does eating mints make drinks taste freezing cold?

I've always been intrigued that, when I chew some minty gum or eat a Certs, then take a swig of water, it tastes freezing even if it is room temperature. I assume it follows a similar property of brushing your teeth and drinking juice, but don't know how it specifically relates to mints and water. Googlefu is failing me on this one.

posted by sjuhawk31 to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Best answer: Menthol.
posted by ikkyu2 at 1:05 PM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I wait two weeks to ask that, and you answer it in two minutes. You are a blessing and a curse, Metafilter.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 1:12 PM on January 18, 2007

I recently tried some Bliss super minty shower soap on a cold winter day. No matter how hot I turned the water, i was FREEZING.

I'm saving it for summer though.
posted by vronsky at 3:29 PM on January 18, 2007

Many of the low calorie mints or minty gums contain sugar alcohols. Some sugar alcohols impart a cooling sensation that is similar to menthol.
posted by catseatcheese at 4:52 AM on January 20, 2007

Yeah, it's often Xylitol (sugar alcohol) that produces the cold sensation of gum and mints. It can be really weird when the gum is fruity and not minty.

I recently tried a Xylitol-based sugar substitute in my coffee and while the coffee didn't "taste" cold, it made the water I drank afterwards quite frosty.
posted by lunalaguna at 7:26 PM on January 20, 2007