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Whether it’s during a picnic, a festival or a beach trip, there’s few things more disappointing than your favourite chilled drink going warm.
However long it's spent in the fridge, canned liquid quickly warms up soon after it's taken out – especially in the summer when we're boozing outdoors.
Now, a clever Welsh engineer thinks he’s found the solution – by creating the world’s first commercially viable self-cooling can.
James Vyse, a former mixologist turned entrepreneur from Swansea, developed the aluminum device in his bedroom – and now wants to take it global.
At the touch of a button, the walls of the fully recyclable can are chilled – with no electricity, batteries or charging ports involved.
Now, giants of the beverage world including Carlsberg and Coca Cola are interested in the device, which will be trialed in London this summer.
Mr Vyse demonstrated the can – of which only 10 polished prototypes exist – at a secretive London location for MailOnline.
'Consumers are picking up cans and travelling with them a lot more,' he said. 'But what happens to the liquid – it cools down.'
Mr Vyse (right) demonstrated the can for MailOnline at a secretive London location. of which only 10 of these prototypes exist
Whether it’s beer, cider, white wine, a cocktail or even just a soft drink, millions of us have to drink our canned tipple warm
'My invention lets the consumer decide when to cool the can down, when at the beach, festivals, picnics with friends, hiking, fishing or running a marathon.
'It's alarming to me how many cans are being consumed warm – I can't believe that modern packaging hasn't really evolved!'
Mr Vyse has formed a company, called Delta H Innovations, to market his fully patented product, which uses some very straightforward science.
Although it looks like a 500ml can, it actually holds 350ml of drinkable liquid due to a enclosed, narrow cavity going around its walls and base.
The base – where a plastic button is located – contains water.
When the button is pressed, the water is flushed upwards into the walls where there are salt crystals (which make it rattle like a maraca).
When the water and the salts come into contact, it causes an 'endothermic' cooling reaction which quickly chills the walls.
After pressing the button, MailOnline found the can transform from tepid to cool in a matter of seconds.
Users just have to push the button on the bottom when they're ready to trigger the cooling reaction
Unfortunately, there's no drinkable liquid inside for me to taste – it is a prototype after all.
But when marketed, the innovation could make the crucial difference of keeping a beverage cool until the last drop is drunk.
In a hot environment, such as a music festival on a summer's day, the chilling effect would last around 20 to 30 minutes, or up to 45 minutes in a cooler clime.
However, it's a one-time reaction, which means the can would be put into the recycling bin when finished just like any other.
The inventor estimates that consumers would be paying an extra 10 to 20 pence for the self-cooling capability, compared with a conventional can with equivalent drinkable volume.
Drinks cans are usually manufactured from aluminum, but the metal is generally very good at conducting the heat from our hands when we’re holding it.
As an added bonus, the self-cooling can's hollow walls also provide a natural layer of insulation that protects the liquid from this exterior heat.
About 20 years ago, Coca Cola invested 'millions' in trying to develop a self-cooling can but lost interest when nothing materialized, Mr Vyse said.
When marketed, the innovation could make the crucial difference of keeping a beverage cool until the last drop is drunk. The hollow walls and base also provide a natural layer of insulation that protects the liquid from exterior heat
Meanwhile, the doomed 500ml Chillcan – made by the Joseph Company in California – was never marketed.
Chillcan released pressurised CO2 into the liquid, but Mr Vyse wanted a version that moved away from releasing environmentally harmful aerosols.
His answer, described as the first commercially viable self-cooling can, is attracting the attention of the 'biggest can manufacturers in the world'.
He said there's been 'major interest' from brands including Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, M&S and Suntory America, known for its whisky products and pre-mixed cocktails.
After London trials this summer, he hopes it will be on sale by 2026, carrying chilled beers, ciders, white wines, cocktails or even just soft drinks.
'I want this to be championed as a British product that's going to change the world,' he told MailOnline.
'The first canned beer was canned in Wales, so it's done a full circle.'
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