I have a heavy crystal decanter I’ve been using for years. A while back I was having some guests for a week, and thought I’d save some money and grabbed a bottle of Jim beam to put in it, as opposed to the higher end I tend to go for, because none of my guest cared about Bourbon. I noticed the level going down further than I had consumed. This has never been an issue before, so I figured someone had just nipped it while o was asleep. The next day, there was condensation on the inside, and the level had dropped further.

Since I’d been using the decanter for so long, I assumed the frosting on the stopper had rubbed off and it no longer sealed.

When it was empty, I refilled it with larceny, my standard, and to my surprise, it didn’t evaporate at all for weeks.

Last night, I refilled it with beam again, and this morning, it had dropped and there was condensation on the side.

What really confused me, is Jim beam has a lower alcohol content than the Bourbons I usually fill the decanter with, so I would think it would evaporate as readily.

Why does only this one brand evaporate?

Quick searching gave me no results

Tldr: Why does Jim Beam evaporate in my decanter while nothing else does?

  • intensely_human@lemm.ee
    5·
    1 day ago

    I assume your decanter is transparent?

    Lots of people assume Jim Beam whiskey got its name from some fellow names James Beam. But actually it’s a reference to its dual nature: the beverage can exist as both a liquid and an electromagnetic wave.

    This is why Jim Beam is so cheap. They want to get it off the shelves before it disappears via Hawking radiation.

    Your whiskey didn’t actually disappear. It changed.

  • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
    4·
    2 days ago

    Occam’s Razor: prefer the answer with the least assumptions. The simplest answer is that the stopper leaks.

    You’ve only got a very small sample size and it’s possible that the stopper is slightly asymmetric and fits well one way and no other.

    The easiest way to unreliabily detect this is just to rotate the stopper in the neck and see if it sits in one place sightly differently than other positions.

    Also, if you’re more frequently drinking your preferred bourbon, you’ll have a harder time noticing any evaporation.

    • SadSadSatellite @lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
      3·
      2 days ago

      It was pretty clever to use a spray bottle to add condensation to the inside of the bottle. I would of gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you pesky lemmings.

      • IronKrill@lemmy.ca
        1·
        2 days ago

        Not to be ‘that guy’, but it’s “would’ve” or “would have”, never “would of”.

          • IronKrill@lemmy.ca
            1·
            2 days ago

            An amusing observation. It’s a general statement to indicate a lack of mallice and imply I’m not just trolling. Posting grammar corrections with no fluff or preface is a fantastic way to earn downvotes, sadly.

  • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee
    2·
    2 days ago

    My suspicion is that your stopper isn’t sealing well, possibly from wear or just odd positioning. If you feel like ruining what’s left of that Jim beam in the decanter you can run a little experiment. Clear the condensation out of the decanter and mark the current level. Leave it for a week and see if the level dropped to establish a baseline. After marking the change, coat the stopper in Vaseline and leave it for another week. See if that helped or not. If it helped then you’ve got a leak

  • 9point6@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 days ago

    Not what you’re asking for, but unless you know your decanter is made from lead free crystal (most aren’t), don’t store booze in it for any amount of time. You should be safe to use it to serve a spirit in, but lead leaches into the spirit much quicker than you’d realise

  • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    Condensation means there is more water evaporating, not alcohol.

    Keep it in a cooler place and this will reduce the evaporation rate.