Ice

Ice

The importance of ice cannot be overstated.  It is both the hardware and the software that run the program at your bar.  You want it to be as clean and as fresh as it can be, so your cocktails smell and taste like nothing else but cold. And, good ice will help keep your cocktails colder and longer.  Please do not use the water you get from your fridge/freezer unless it is one that makes clear round balls and/or you are using spring water.  If you do, especially with the newer portable ice machines, be sure to flush it out every few months with about 1/4 teaspoon of bleach to 1 gallon of water.

If you think ice is a wasted topic and/or waste of your time, you are already wasting your time.  Here are the facts:

• Ice is at least 75% of your cocktail or drink.
• 25% or more will melt after mixing or during the duration of the cocktail or drink.
• The better tasting the ice, the better tasting of the cocktail.
• You do NOT want your cocktail to smell like chlorine, last night’s leftovers or even the frost building up in the freezer walls.

So why are you using “free” ice from the tap or freezer that can potentially ruin your $100 single malt scotch whiskey or even your $10-20 cocktail? Spend .25 cents on a good bottle of spring water. Take time to make the ice ahead of time, and if you are going to keep it in the freezer, keep it in ziplock bags or Tupperware to keep other flavors and smells from the food in your freezer for clinging on to it, because it will.

They have written books on this. And it always amazes me that of all the videos I made, the only one that has gotten 6,000 or more, is my episode on ice. All the others rarely make it to 1,000.  So people do take it seriously, so should you.  Even bartenders have at least several different types of ice.

Typical Type of Ice:

• Medium size cubes for shaking
• Large single cube or sphere for serving cocktails or spirits like bourbon or scotch, generally something that is mostly spirits and booze, not juices or mixers
• Crushed, pebble or nugget ice for tiki and tropical drinks.  You can also buy 10 lb bags this at fast food chains (if it does not melt by time you get it home), but remember, you don’t know if/when the machine has been cleaned and/or what type of water is being used to make that ice. You can make your own crushed ice, but it is a lot of work, and pebble or nugget ice you get from a machine is more consistent and makes for a better presentation.
• Long cylinders for highball cocktails in tall glasses. I think this is going a bit far, but at some of your higher end cocktail bars you might find them.

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