When you’re feeling warm and sticky, a hot drink probably isn’t top of your list, but it can actually cool you down faster than a cold one under the right conditions.
How does a hot drink cool you down?
If you’re already feeling warm and your body detects additional heat from a hot drink, it starts trying to cool you down by sweating! Drinking the hot drink makes you sweat more than usual to cool you down.
Sweating works by a process called evaporative cooling.
- Sweat glands produce sweat, which sits on your skin.
- To make the sweat evaporate, it has to absorb energy.
- Sweat absorbs thermal energy from your skin as it evaporates, cooling you down.
For a hot drink to actually cool you down, the heat lost through sweat evaporation must be greater than the heat you gained from drinking the hot drink.
This only works in a dry climate. In a humid environment, the sweat won’t evaporate; it’ll just stay on your skin, making you pretty uncomfortable!
Last Updated on July 9, 2026 by Emma Vanstone
