Why You Should Care About Ice, According to Cocktail Experts
Pebbled, spears, one big cube — every shape serves a purpose.
Photo Courtesy of Disco Cubes/Leslie Kirchhoff
Beyond watching our favorite TikTok creators tout pebble ice makers or paying an extra 50 cents for a cold coffee, most of us probably don’t think much about ice. Bartenders and mixologists, on the other hand, know that the right ice is key to a balanced drink.
“If we are really thinking of the cocktail as a luxury product as a whole — which in this day and age, it is, given the prices and the approach and the skill — then every ingredient in that cocktail should feel like a luxury,” says Haley Traub, who oversees Attaboy and Good Guy’s in New York. “I personally do not want to be paying 22 American dollars for a cocktail that comes out on ice that is gonna melt in five seconds.”
According to Geremy Alexander, a bartender at Eavesdrop in New York, it’s a common misconception that the volume of liquid in a drink equates to the amount of alcohol in it. People sometimes think of ice as a way to make a drink look fuller than it is, but in reality, the presentation has no impact on the alcohol content.
“Customers don’t understand what they’re actually paying for,” Alexander says. “If I put [a drink] in a smaller glass and put more cubes in it, it’ll be the same liquor amount.”
So, what does ice do? Two things, according to Traub. Ice keeps a drink cold, and it simultaneously waters down high-proof ingredients. Both factors, chill and dilution, make for a more enjoyable experience.
The trick is making sure that the drink is diluted at the right rate. That’s where different ice shapes come in.
“If it’s more of a spirit-forward drink, then you would want to do more of a larger, clear cube, just because it’s mainly alcohol and you want it to chill the drink but also dilute it at a very slow rate, versus smaller pieces,” Alexander explains. “If it’s more of a tall, island-esque drink, then you would want to do pebble ice because it melts faster, it stretches it out. Even though it’s a sweet drink, it kind of lengthens the drink.”
Photo Courtesy of Disco Cubes
In the middle of the spectrum there are spears, which have more surface area than a large cube but less than pebble ice. These are mainly used for highballs, which include a carbonated element like soda water, ginger beer or tonic. Traub says this type of ice helps the fizziness last as long as possible.
“The more surface area you have, that means there’s more opportunities for those bubbles, for that carbonation, to latch onto the nucleation points and to die. So rather than using a bunch of smaller cubes with carbonation, we want to have just one long spear so we can make sure that carbonation is lasting as long as possible,” she says.
The quality of the ice is also important. Not only is clear, dense ice more visually striking, but it lacks the impurities of cloudy ice, meaning it doesn’t alter the flavor of the drink. You’re more likely to find clear ice at upscale bars because it’s difficult and time-consuming to make, so bars usually buy it from specialty companies.
Photo Courtesy of Disco Cubes/Leslie Kirchhoff
Leslie Kirchhoff is the founder of Disco Cubes, a luxury ice company based in Los Angeles. She specializes in large, crystal-clear cubes and spheres with flowers or other ingredients suspended in the center.
“It’s such a fun feeling to look at something and wonder how it happened,” she says. “And so that’s kind of what I try to do with these cubes, where our cubes are so mystifying that when I’m at an event, if I stick around, I just watch people receive their drink and they’ll turn to strangers and be like, ‘Oh my god, how is that in there? How did they do it?’”
For Kirchhoff, who is also a photographer and DJ, ice was both a creative and business opportunity. As she started experimenting with different ingredients and techniques, she found a passion for both the scientific and visual aspects.
“I really looked at the ice cube as a blank canvas,” she says. “I was fascinated by the properties of different freezing points and the time of when you put a cube in a drink to when it’s ending, like, could it infuse a flavor?”
When ice is chosen carefully, it can transform a cocktail from a mere beverage to an experience for all of the senses.
“I’m listening to how the ice sounds in the tin while they shake, because that tells me something,” Alexander says. “If people know what they’re doing, then it’s definitely intention, it’s style, it’s purpose, it’s art, it’s taste.”
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