Find. Eat. Drink.'s Guide to Cocktail Ice

Ice is no longer taking a back seat in the cocktail world. Ice matters. If you're not getting your rocks from Kold-Draft or Clinebell machines, here are a few recommendations from mixologists on how to form your own cubes at home.

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Ice Matters

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For the cocktail geek, ice is a key ingredient for its purity, shape, and size... especially its size. The bigger the cube, the less it melts. Melted ice becomes an extra ingredient and not always a welcomed one. The solution? Maximize volume, while minimizing the surface area.

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For the cocktail geek, ice is a key ingredient for its purity, shape, and size... especially its size. The bigger the cube, the less it melts.

Melted ice becomes an extra ingredient and not always a welcomed one. The solution? Maximize volume, while minimizing the surface area.

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Breth said on 26 Wednesday 2011 pm31 4:26 pm: 1.) Start with distilled water 2.) Boil it then allow to cool 3.) Repeat boiling step 4.) Freeze 5.) Enjoy clear cubes

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Comments

[Nolmits88]

04:50 PM on 02/01/2011

The only thing you need to keep your Single Malt cold
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/ba37/

[drsolo]

09:18 AM on 01/29/2011

Boil the water to drive gases like oxygen and nitrogen out of the liquid. Gas bubbles are the main reason ice isnt clear. Heat distilled or RO water will be even clearer with no residual "tastes" from chlorine or contaminants. Carbon filters on water lines also work and then just heat the water before freezing. I have my students do this at home for one of their labs.

[medicontheedge]

07:55 PM on 01/27/2011

Change your fridge icemaker water filter reguarly...then for shaken drinks, learn the "hard shake"...perfect.

[Hillside1]

11:09 AM on 01/27/2011

I was told that chlorine in the water is why ice cubes are white.

Does anyone know?

[drsolo]

09:12 AM on 01/29/2011

no, not the reason.

[captainspirou]

12:15 AM on 01/27/2011

The key to clear ice is to freeze it slowly. That means to turn the freezer up to the "warmest" setting and to get an ice tray as insulated as possible. If it freezes too fast the impurities will get trapped.

[regulargal]

11:32 PM on 01/26/2011

It's too cold to think about ice.

[CraigR]

07:39 PM on 01/26/2011

Beer swillers like me don't need to worry about the ice..

[ghd]

07:23 PM on 01/26/2011

I give up! What can you say offensive about alcoholic drinks?

[ghd]

07:23 PM on 01/26/2011

I have reverse osmosis and a line running to my ice maker in fridge. The cubes are crystal clear with no offensive taste. Though I don't drink mixed drinks I believe my cubes would be great.

[Robert Nix]

07:40 PM on 01/26/2011

Do you worry that the RO maybe removing all the minerals that are naturally found in water along with the bad stuff?

[drsolo]

09:15 AM on 01/29/2011

Distilled water is perfectly fine. There is nothing in the minerals of "fresh" water that is going to supply nutrients.. that is what food is for.

[KillgoreTrout43]

06:55 PM on 01/26/2011

Twelve year old, single malt Scotch, with 2 small cubes is perfect. Just a small amount of water, in 12 year old single malts, releases more flavor into a drink.

[PDinCA]

07:22 PM on 01/26/2011

I keep hearing about the water trick, but I've never tried it. I think I'd want distilled water for that. But putting ice in a good malt just seems wrong. :)

[KillgoreTrout43]

08:34 PM on 01/26/2011

Notice I said, "small," ice cubes. Even distillers will tell you that a touch of water will bring out certain qualities in a single malt. I actually like both, neat and two small cubes.

[c-tom]

12:29 AM on 01/27/2011

Use water not ice but try it. It definitely changes the flavor and can be an improvement depending on the Scotch.

[joebloggs724]

08:27 PM on 01/26/2011

OMG, the Scottish will be turning in the graves (the dead ones, anyway). The living ones will be pulling their hair out. Why would anyone admit to putting ice in single malt?? A little water - yes. But ice - never! In Scotland they won't serve you at a bar if you ask for ice in single malt. Or else they'll give you regular blended scotch instead.

[dblan9]

10:41 AM on 01/27/2011

I drank increasingly better Scotch for fifteen years. I drank it with ice every time. I took heat from people who said I didn't know how to drink scotch even though they could not tell the difference between Chivas and Dalmore. To each their own. If you enjoy Scotch neat, great, if you enjoy it packed with ice, great. Do you taste the exact same flavor of my homemade Raviolis as I intended? I doubt it, but I am happy if you enjoy them nonetheless.

[Hillside1]

11:18 AM on 01/27/2011

joebloggs724 has it right.

3-5 drops of distilled water will open the schotch, no more and positively no ice

[cgeorgan]

06:46 PM on 01/26/2011

I drink my whiskey neat.

[KIVPossum]

06:28 PM on 01/26/2011

Perfect coctail - one part scotch + one part scotch, stired with a finger dipped in scotch. Mix well away from ice or water. And never use your glass for anything but scotch.

[WarrenPease]

06:23 PM on 01/26/2011

Make mine wine and hold the ice, please.

[LTM]

06:12 PM on 01/26/2011

If art saves lives, and this high-end coctail ice is art, then these frozen shapes of water may further our lives.

[oxygen]

07:36 PM on 01/26/2011

doesn't the round one roll down and hit your nose?

[Nancy Lynne Kriescher]

09:57 AM on 01/27/2011

Cute!. Good One..:)

[Christopher Manzione]

06:11 PM on 01/26/2011

Coffee Ice Cubes for your Iced Coffee - No water coffee at the end of your drink and just wait till they melt and POW! more Iced Coffee