![]() ![]() So if the ice cubes in your drink are totally clear, you know there’s nothing in that frozen block but pure, clean water. Cloudiness happens when impurities are in the water before it’s frozen. That clarity is important for a couple reasons. “That’s due to both the look of the beautiful, crystal clear organic shape and the way it cools the drink.” “Clear ice takes a cocktail from mediocre to fancy bar status,” Overhiser said. Clear ice has better taste and a slower melt. “Sometimes home mixologists skimp on presentation, like using the wrong glass for the drink, omitting the garnish or settling for cloudy standard ice cubes.” Even small touches like clear ice, she said, can make a difference. “Cocktails are all about presentation,” she said. So if you’re making drinks at home and thinking about cutting a few corners, remember this advice from Sonja Overhiser, who, with her husband Alex, runs the cocktail and home cooking website A Couple Cooks. He referred to the master mentioned earlier, English, and said he heeded the expert’s warnings about how “shitty hotel ice” will contribute to a poorer-quality drink. Huddleston said that when you’re opening up alcohol in this way, it’s always smart to use the best ice possible. That dilution allows aromatics to come through, while also taming that harsh burn on the back of the palate that can happen when sipping an undiluted spirit.” “You can test this by adding just a couple drops of water to any spirit. “When you add ice, it allows for more expansive flavors, and it will help ‘open up’ the spirit for the best possible taste,” he said. “Ice can make a difference on many different levels,” said Steven Huddleston, a self-described “molecular mixologist” and managing director of beverage and training at SquareOne Holdings, a restaurant management company. If you think that a properly chilled drink won’t taste much different from a room temperature one, you may want to reconsider. ![]() That “elevation” of the experience is often what’s missing from a home-prepared cocktail. Technically, the beverage is the same, but the drinking experience is elevated.” How ice changes a cocktail, aside from making it colder. ![]() “I always say the difference between using cloudy and clear ice is like drinking champagne out of a styrofoam cup or crystal flute. “ Ice is a tool for chilling and diluting cocktails, and it can also be an aesthetic improvement, like beautiful glassware or a garnish,” he said. The trick, he said, is understanding the role ice can play. In “ The Ice Book: Cool Cubes, Clear Spheres, and Other Chill Cocktail Crafts,” the renowned cocktail “icepert” explains how good ice can make a big difference in whatever you’re drinking. A cocktails and spirits writer and speaker who’s covered the craft cocktail renaissance for more than 15 years, he’s just written an entire book on the subject. In the world of those who care deeply about frozen chunks of H2O, Camper English reigns supreme. Meet the man who wrote a whole book about ice. And they do it by starting out with the humblest of ingredients - just plain old water. As it happily chills bevvies of every sort, ice makes the main attraction look good, but gets little attention or praise, even from the thirstiest among us.īut that attitude has been changing as a number of innovative mixologists have risen to fame not just on the strength of their skills with liquids, but their ability to create perfectly shaped, utterly clear ice cubes that elevate and enhance all kinds of cocktails. As seen above in his book, English Camper shows the beauty of an ice cube you can see through.įor too many years, ice has been treated like an under-appreciated background singer for the “star power” of the liquids at hand. ![]()
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