FindEatDrink: Ice Matters

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Edition: 14 January, 2011


	Photograph by Okamoto Studio

For the cocktail connoisseur, 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.

Premiere cocktail lounges get bubble-free, transparent ice blocks from professional ice carvers, like Okamoto Studio, or make their own with Kold-Draft or Clinebell machines.

While you may not be able to replicate the crystal-clear shapely cubes of your favorite cocktail bar, here are a few options to form your own rocks at home.

TOVOLO KING CUBE

Recommended By: Mixologist Jamie Boudreau (Spirits and Cocktails)

What: Single silicone tray comes in various colors, with six 2-inch square cubes.

Buy Online: Amazon.com, $14.99

WILLIAMS-SONOMA KING CUBE

Recommended By: Ice Carver Shintaro Okamoto (Okamoto Studio)

What: Set of silicone trays, with four 2-inch square ice cubes.

Buy Online: Williams-Sonoma, $14.95

ICE BALL MOLD

Recommended By: Mixologist Jim Meehan (PDT in New York)

What: Transforms large square ice cubes into perfectly round spheres.

Buy Online: Japan Trend Shop, various sizes from $200 to $1,992