The Last Icy Treat of Summer: Kelvin Slush

Over the last summer we've seen a race to develop new types of frozen treats, pursued with as much fervor as the American-Russian Space Race of the 1960s. We've seen the popsicle reinvented, soft-serve espousing a gay sexual preference developed, more gelatos and ice creams than we can name squirted out, and even frozen-cake-on-a-stick mounted -- which was promised, but never quite materialized.

Could there be a neglected sector of this thronged market? Yes, and its generic name is slushy. In a form perfected by 7-Eleven's Slurpee,the slushy is an ice-based, non-milk-containing, soda-flavored beverage that maintains a loose consistency, so it slides down the throat as easily as a soda, but bearing micro-crystals of ice. The Slurpee's only competitor has been another bodega-based product called the Slush Puppie, which, in contrast, usually offers fruit flavors.

Naturally, the artificial flavoring scheme of 7-Eleven is not fit for the sophisticated slushy eater, so a revamped version was due. That has been provided by a truck named Kelvin Natural Slush Company. The gray truck is rather somber and scientific, suggesting some sort of chemistry lab inside. And, indeed, the beverage is named after William Thompson, also known as Baron Kelvin, the 19th-century Northern Irish engineer who discovered absolute zero, the lowest temperature that matter can attain (approximately negative-460 degrees Fahrenheit).