Let Us Dilute That For You

Did you know that you can now buy pre-diluted antifreeze? Once you accept that bottled water is a valuable product, adding water to things isn't necessarily going to make them worth less.

Here's the antifreeze price breakdown, full-strength on the left, diluted on the right. The full-strength antifreeze (ethylene glycol) sells for $12.47 per gallon. This needs to be cut with 50% water when you use it in a radiator.

Luckily, that diluted formula is also available. It sells for $10.47, which is a bit less, but not a bargain, considering that you are getting half of a bottle of water.

Apple Juice

Apple juice is the most socially-acceptable type of sugar water to give your kids.

Many parents give their kids a thinned version of apple juice, cutting it with water before serving it to their kids.

Mott's Apple juice has stepped in to pre-dilute the apple juice for us, with their product "Motts for Tots". This product retails for $2.48, the same price as regular apple juice. I can't believe this sells.

Margaritas

The main ingredient of a margarita is tequila. Tequila is the expensive part, but Skinny girl and other bottled margaritas dilute it for you, with triple sec and juice.

This is not as easy or cheap as adding water, but it is dilution of the sake of convenience.

My calculations, based on a typical margarita recipe and the Skinny Girl alcohol content (12.7%) reveal a $5.55 retail price for a bottle of these ingredients. $12.50 is no bargain, but it is a lot more convenient to drink in the parking lot of a Katy Perry concert.

Check out the Cockeyed.com Cocktail Price Calculator

Orange Juice

The final subject of my dilution study is orange juice. Unlike the diluted apple juice, orange juice is sold in concentrated version and a reconstituted version which is sold at a strength approximating that of naturally-occuring orange juice.

There is no diluted version available.

To reconstitute the frozen orange juice, you have to add 3 cans of water, yielding 48 ounces of orange juice.

Incredibly, the concentrated product delivers orange juice which is the same price as the regular bottled orange juice! There is no advantage to buying the frozen OJ, unless you prefer to enjoy ice-cold orange juice immediately after reconstiting it.

Summary
There is no one answer to the question of whether a diluted product is a good value. The price of reconstituted orange juice is a bargain, the price of diluted anti-freeze is a bit steep, and the prices of diluted apple juice and pre-mixed margaritas are two genuine rip-offs.

You'll have to actually do the math. I hope it is quiet so you can concentrate.