ColdSnap Wants to Be the Keurig of Ice Cream for Your Countertop

If you love ice cream, you might want to start making room on your countertop now. A new product promises to deliver on-demand soft-serve and a long list of other frozen treats with unprecedented efficiency.

It’s called the ColdSnap, and it was a standout product at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Unlike other ice cream makers, the ColdSnap doesn’t require mixing ingredients or freezing them. Treats come in small aluminum cans (no refrigeration required), are instantly frozen, and then dispensed—Keurig-style—into a bowl. (Or your mouth, depending on how shameless you want to be about the whole thing.)

Observe this marvel of human ingenuity in action.

Inventor Matthew Fonte got the idea for the machine while writing in a bedtime idea journal with his two daughters. The ColdSnap works by removing heat from the pod, which creates a cooling effect. A small part inside the pod churns the mixture. Air is sucked in to help loft the contents. After about 90 seconds of waiting, you’ve got ice cream. The aluminum cans can be recycled, and ColdSnap claims the machine won't need cleaning.

ColdSnap plans to appeal to a variety of consumers with a line of smoothies, frozen coffees, and protein shakes, so you can pretend you’re buying it for healthy and sensible eating choices. Fonte hopes to bring the current $1000 price point down to $500 by swapping out metal parts for plastic. Look for it in early 2022.