This is a great one, we will talk about the most essential of all ingredients in a cocktail. This is about WHY we use ice, and HOW it influences the drinks we make.
We have previously talked about the types of ice, and how it affects the flavor. The size of the ice, where the water comes from, and whether it is shaken or stirred, all have an impact on the final outcome of the drink we are mixing.
Ice if by far, the MOST important ingredient in mixing cocktails. So always keep this idea close when planning your different drink recipes!
WHAT KIND OF WATER IS BEING USED?
First thing is first, what kind of water are we making our ice with?
This is a point that is overlooked by many (too many). The water, as we know (dilution), is the most important part of ANY drink. That being said, the type of water is crucial to allow the drink to be expressed to its maximum flavor profile.
We can use tap water, filtered water, mineral water, bottled water, or even reverse-osmosis water. Depending on the water that is used to either shake the cocktail or pour the drink over, we will get a plethora of flavors from the different types.
Most ice machines, like the Hoshizaki ice machines filter the water used before freezing to make cubes. This type of water lends itself to have a more neutral flavor profile, thus allowing the other ingredients in the drink to thrive and be more prominent without distraction. Conversely, a regular tap water, per se, would interrupt the other ingredients’ flavor profiles and add into the drink with unwanted mineral and chlorine taste to the ice; therefore the drink is then off in overall balance of flavors that we might want to demonstrate.
WHAT SHAPE IS THE ICE?
The shape of the ice is also a crucial part of how ice is used and considered behind the bar. The size of the ice is used for any number of occasions. Some look better, some do not. Some WORK better, some definitely do not. Here are some of the most common types/sizes of ice behind the bar:
THE BIG BLOCK OF ICE – the less surface area there is to melt and potentially over-dilute the drink. This would be great in a cocktail like a whiskey old-fashioned or a gold rush, where we do not want any extra dilution, just to keep the drink cold enough to enjoy. Much of the dilution is done before hand during the shaking/stirring process. The big ice is just used to maintain overall temperature of the drink as well as avoiding extra dilution to change the flavor profiles. These are usually seen as a 2 inch by 2 inch cube.
REGULAR ICE CUBE – this type of ice we typically call “cheater ice”. These are the regular cubes that come out of a regular ice machine that aren’t exactly cubes. More like half-ovals. These are great to build a nice rum and coke with or any highball cocktail you might need it for. Even as simple as serving water to a guest, or a regular soda. This is a MUST HAVE behind the bar. Alternatively, there are ice machines (which are my favorite) that turn these “cheater ice” pieces in the shape of a perfect 1 by 1 inch cube. These are the most beautiful, and well worth the investment.
CRUSHED ICE – hence crushed ice comes into play, the more surface area. This smaller ice (much like we would use in a mojito or a mai tai) would have much faster drop in temperature. The trick when using crushed ice is to have the cocktail, the mixture you are working with, as close to the temperature as the ice itself. This allows for when the cocktail goes into the glass with the ice, the drink doesn’t over-dilute. This can easily happen with crushed ice drinks because we anticipate enough ice initially for the drink, but if the liquid is at a higher temperature than the GLASS and ICE, then the drink will melt a lot faster! (This component of ice can be a bit complex, and hard to explain thoroughly through this blog, so I will post some videos showing the differences)
SHAKING OR STIRRING?
If the cocktail calls for stirring and served up, then we will stir the drink about 30 seconds to maintain a steady rate of dilution. If the drink (like a negroni or old-fashioned) will be served on the rocks, then we stir for slightly less time. Stirring is great for us and the ICE we use because it allows us to control it better.
When shaking, the ice plays a prominent role as well. When using the regular beautiful ice cubes (1x1inch), we must shake for a bit longer due to the lower surface area of the ice (approx 15-17 seconds).
I hope that helped to explain a bit about what ice means behind the bar. I’m thinking I will post another (since this one stretched out a bit) about the HISTORY of our relationship to ice here in the United States and overall in the cocktail world.
Stay frosty, my friends.
Jonathan Echavarria 