In the past few days I’ve had some excellent cocktails, three of which were served with a single massive ice cube in a short glass. I found these a bit tricky to drink. I made a bit of a mess, ending up spilling some of the drink because of how the huge ice cube moved in the glass. I also probably looked incredibly clumsy trying to sip the drink once it was nearing empty, because if I tipped the glass too far I was in danger of knocking myself out with the giant ice cube .
Any tips from more experienced drinkers of cocktails?
I have a special silicone ice cube tray so I can make those giant ice cubes at home. I love them; they melt more slowly than smaller ice cubes. The thing that annoys me about their use in bars is that it always seems like a tricky way to short the amount of alcohol in the drink while making you think you’re getting more!
We also have a silicone cube mold. My partner tends to like her whiskey, old fashioned, and manhattans on the rocks. She prefers them as they melt more slowly and don’t dilute it as much as smaller cubes or cracked/crushed ice.
I one big cube and a couple of smalller ones if I’m maker her anything with fruit juice that requires a shaker. The big cube gets a lot of movement of the shaker contents, and the smaller bits melt more and dilute the drink properly.
We make those big ice cubes in our house too. I’m sure that I adjusted the way I sip without thinking about it.
Also I use them for my iced coffee at home and definitely need to remember to put the cubes in the glass before adding the liquid. Otherwise, I am wearing iced coffee.
I was trying to sip slowly but methinks the glass was too short. A straw might have been helpful. Or even a stick to hold the cube in place once the drink level was down. I think part of the problem was the pace at which food was being served, which wasn’t conducive to slow sipping.
I might have discreetly used the tip of my index finger of the hand holding the glass to hold the giant cube in place… Or I might not have. You be the judge.
Gotcha. We have too many of those to count, with new ones added regularly.
One of the (many) fun things about being in a couple — having inside jokes only you understand, and that will make anyone else look at you like you have two heads.
Me too, but I guess I have to say I try not to put them in harm’s way. DH has a round ice mold, he likes it for whiskey. I use the one cup Souper Cubes for my iced tea and got a half-cup one for other random uses. Not sure I’d put a big old square one in a small glass, especially after reading this
I would never judge you, but I will absolutely judge the bartender that decided to make a drink in such a way that the customer has to touch the ice with their hands, or let the ice crash against their lips/teeth/whatever. Many years ago I took a “craft cocktail” course geared for professional bartenders and one of the key rules I recall being taught with regard to drink construction was to always use a straw for rocks drinks, specifically to avoid a customer having to interact with the ice. These huge cubes were not popular yet, and I think a straw is omitted since it doesn’t look good in these drinks. (Instagram > customer experience, these days?) Personally I’d perhaps serve the drink sans cube in a frozen thick-walled glass, which should keep it equally chilled without the customer needing to think about it…
Ugh, no thank you. That sounds very unpleasant to hold (especially if you are someone like me whose skin gets itchy and swollen when exposed to cold…yes that is a thing).
Well luckily for both of us we won’t get to try this except in virtual space! But having had plenty of drinks in glasses that were previously stored in the freezer (with the caveat that I’m not all that bothered by picking up a cold glass), I don’t think it makes that much difference when held. If you’ve ever had a beer or something in a frosted glass you might have noticed that the frost very quickly dissipates – within a minute or two, once the glass both contains cold liquid and is getting heat from the room. This makes the outermost layer of the glass warm enough to hold quite comfortably (YMMV). But because glass is a good insulator, the inner layers and especially a thick base at the bottom of the glass will internally retain the cold well, and it’s able to keep the drink colder for longer as a result – much like the large ice cube would. Anyway, were it the real world I’d be more than happy to pour your drink into a non-chilled glass or perhaps provide a bar napkin for extra hand protection
.
