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Nikola Tesla (a drink)
I've developed a variant of a martini which was tremendously popular at my
last party (hear me out--this really does have something to do with
building the right Tesla coil). I call it the "Nikola Tesla". The basic
recipe was:
2 oz gin
3/4 oz Creme de Menthe
Shake over ice and pour into an old-fashioned glass. The "shake over ice"
is mandatory, although you may stir the martini and strain the ice. It
doesn't taste right if it's not cold.
Place the glass on the terminal of your Tesla coil and ionize for several
seconds (if you're using an old-fashioned glass, you should be able to get
the St. Elmo's fire to surround the rim of the glass--you'll need a much
more powerful Tesla coil if you use a regular stemmed martini glass). The
ozone smell mixes with the mint quite well, not to mention provides for a
spectacular display.
Here's my question:
I'm working on a variant of the "Nikola Tesla" which is something along
the same line, but I'd like to make a flaming drink which is ignited with
a tesla coil (preferrably without using nearby ground wires to induce
sparks). So far, I've been able to get hot EverClear (95% alcohol) to
ignite with my 240KV table top coil, but not much else. I was thinking
that there might be a way to increase the spark/ionization activity at my
terminal without adding too many obvious grounds (which will simply draw a
single spark). The warm version of the Nikola Tesla turns out to be a
really strong Old-Fashioned (which has an alcohol meniscus and could
certainly be flammable at the right temperatures), but I'm having trouble
designing a table-top coil which I can ignite it with. What I'm looking
for is some sort of coil which has a "broad spark spread" (e.g. not just a
single spark or a few trailers). I'm assuming this can be done with the
right geometry of your terminal and nearby grounds. Has anyone tried to
make such a coil? If so, I'd appreciate your input.
- A. Banerjee