Liquid is fine. Creatine just breaks down in water because it’s a sensitive molecule. When mixed with water, it slowly turns into a different substance called creatinine, much faster if the water is acidic or warm.

There’s a study thats easy to find that shows a pretty noticeable loss (<20%) of absorption when taken with orange juice (due to acidity)

Additionally, after 3 hrs even in a neutral pH, most of the creatine has converted to creatinine. (Which is not absorbed)