Here’s a weird one to bust out at your next dinner party: A new machine says it can make your wine taste better by blasting it with sonic energy.
The Sonic Decanter recently reached its $85,000 goal on Kickstarter, with over 700 investors jumping in to support the project. (There are still a couple of days left for others to nudge their way in for a discounted rate on the product.) It purports to use ultrasound energy to change the molecular properties of non-carbonated red and white whites, making the drink “smoother” and more flavorful.
Wine connoisseurs may wonder how this provides benefits beyond a normal decanting process, which involves pouring wine into a separate bottle to remove sediment. According to a video on the Kickstarter page, the Sonic Decanter removes oxygen from the wine — the opposite of what normal decanting does — which helps preserve flavor for longer.
The people behind the Sonic Decanter sent The Huffington Post a prototype unit to put to the test. HuffPost Tech teamed with editors from HuffPost Taste for a blind tasting: We purchased a bottle of red wine, a bottle of white, and poured eight “pre-decanted” and “post-decanted” cups for each.
The wines we purchased aren’t fancy — but supposedly, they don’t have to be to gain benefits from the Sonic Decanter.
First: The process takes a bit of time. You have to wait 20 minutes for a bottle of red and 15 minutes for a bottle of white. During that time, the prototype made a bit of noise, which you can hear below:
Click to listen: We noticed the Sonic Decanter prototype was a bit noisy — though you probably wouldn’t notice with a few folks over
By and large, our testers seemed to enjoy the red wine after it went through the Sonic Decanter process. They didn’t note a dramatic difference, but a couple of people said the un-decanted wine seemed “more acidic”; another noted that it seemed to be “missing something.” An editor added that the un-decanted wine had a “harsher aftertaste.” (Remember: They didn’t know which was which when they were tasting and commenting.)
The white wine fared considerably less well in our taste test. Before starting the Sonic Decanter, you pour two cups of cold water into it. But remember, the process takes 15 minutes — enough time for a drink to warm up a bit — and we also noticed that the machine seemed to warm the water and wine bottle during the decanting process. That’s not great for a glass of white.
Before you use the Sonic Decanter, you fill it with cold water.
All of the white wine taste-testers noticed the warmth immediately and said it made drinking the wine less pleasant. Those who weren’t too distracted by the temperature noted that the decanted wine was “smoother” with “less bite,” but everyone preferred the cooler glass.
HuffPost asked the Sonic Decanter team about the temperature problem — the problem could be with the prototype unit — but has yet to receive a response.
The Sonic Decanter goes into production next year and is expected to ship in May 2015.
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