Ice is the unsong hero of cocktails, the barback of the mixologist– not only does it help us get our cocktails perfectly chilled for drinking, it also dilutes them just enough to add that little bit of water to open the cocktail up further, which is an important part of the drink making process. Below we’ve broken down the different types of ice ideal for the kind of cocktail you want to make. But try not to take it too seriously – don’t get us wrong, ice matters, but not so much that you shouldn’t make the cocktail if you don’t have the right kind.
Why Ice Is Important in Cocktails
Ice is one of the most underrated and misunderstood ingredients in a cocktail. People don’t always use enough ice when shaking or stirring because they’re afraid that they will water down the drink too much (which has some validity, of course you don’t want to make your drink taste watery), but you might be surprised to learn that between 20-25% of your cocktail should intentionally be water. Ice is our friend in the process because as it chills your beverage down to the perfect temperature, it also acts as a slight agitator to mix the ingredients and melts just enough to give our cocktail the right balance of spirits and water.
Why Clear Ice Is Better
Clear ice is preferable to cloudy ice for a few reasons. First, it just looks prettier in your cocktail. Second, cloudy ice means that little air bubbles have been trapped inside the ice, causing it to melt faster than clear ice. Also, air can often take on the flavor of whatever else is inside your freezer, including that frozen pizza, so making and using clear ice is key to not introducing unwanted flavors into your drink.
Making clear ice at home isn’t as daunting as it may seem. One of the more popular ways is to fill a mini cooler with ice and put it in your freezer until it freezes with all of the air bubbles trapped at the bottom. Then you use a knife to cut it up – this video explains this process really well. But for us, that’s still too much effort. So instead, we use the Glacio Crystal Clear Ice Square molds – these only make two cubes at a time, but it’s so much easier and there’s no ice chopping or mess involved.
Crushed Ice/Pellets
Crushed ice is exactly that – ice that has been crushed up and broken into tiny little pieces. The easiest way to do this is with a Lewis bag (made of canvas) and wooden mallet, but if you don’t have one of these sets at home, a plastic zip top bag and meat pounder or wooden spoon should do the trick. Stick whatever ice you have in a clean bag and pound it out until the cubes become ¼ inch pieces. This kind of ice is great for Mint Juleps, Moscow Mules, swizzles and Tiki drinks.
Small Cube Ice
These are your typical ice cube tray cubes. Around 1 inch across, these ice cubes work great when stacked up for drinks served in a highball glass, like a Tom Collins, Americano, or anything else that gets topped with sparkling water.
Large Cube or Sphere Ice
A large 2” ice square cube or sphere ice ball is great for drinks that are meant to be served on the rocks. Because there is less surface area in contact with the liquid, it means the ice melts far more gradually. An advantage of these big cubes is that you can build a cocktail with it already in your rocks glass. It might seem unconventional, but its a great trick to save time since you can pour your ingredients right over the cube and stir with a mixing spoon.
Crescent Ice
We all have these ice cubes – easy, convenient, they get made by our freezers without us even noticing. We call them “moon ice” because they resemble little half moons, but that’s not a scientific term. Ice from the freezer works just fine, unfortunately it just tends to melt quickly because it contains a lot of air bubbles (hence the cloudiness). We tend to use this ice more for shaking & stirring when building the cocktails and reserve our clear ice for the final presentation.
Ice is an under-appreciated art form – it can do a lot for your cocktail if you seek out and utoilize the right shape and form. Like we said before, ice isn’t going to make or break your drink, so do the best you can with what you have!
