Physicist Invents Chameleon-like Ice Cream

By Melissa Koontz

That time of the year is finally here again … pool parties, picnics, amusement parks and just all-around fun-in-the- sun. And along with all of the good people and times, always comes food! From that delicious burger on the grill to that potato salad to everything in between and all of the delicious desserts, we can never get enough.

And if things couldn’t get any better, there is now an ice cream that changes colors as you lick!

A Different Color with Every Lick

Xamaleón, a “tutti frutti” delight, changes from blue to pink and then purple when it touches the tongue and is exposed to temperature changes. Manuel Linares, a former physicist with a passion for frozen desserts, only took one week to develop this chameleon goodness with two other members. He said it’s simply chemistry and “any food can change color depending on temperature and oxidation”.

This ice cream is made with natural ingredients such as strawberries, bananas, vanilla and almonds. He does have a few secret ingredients that he calls a “love elixir” on the ice cream that helps the reaction after it’s scooped. Linares doesn’t want to reveal too much, but we might get a little bit more of an insight when he secures a patent for his creation, which is pending.

Linares now has an ice cream shop called IceXperience open in Blanes, his hometown in Spain, and is already whipping up ideas for more interesting flavors. He wants to create an ice cream that reacts to UV lights in nightclubs as well as one that’ll be made with Peruvian and African medicinal plants with an aphrodisiac effect called Xamán. Any taste testers willing?

“As a physicist, I know that there are various possibilities that might work and I was delighted when I managed to crack it and create an ice cream that changes color,” Linares said.