One of the things I enjoy most about working in the liquor industry is all the crazy things you can learn about if you open yourself up to investigating and reading, asking questions and experimenting. Enjoying liquor responsibly is so much more than having a glass of wine or a rum and coke. If you want to, finding out where that grape was grown, or how and where the rum was distilled is a fascinating journey that can lead to, if nothing else, great small talk at the next cocktail party!
In a few days, I'm doing a Cocktail Event with a group of ladies who want to expand their repertoire in this realm and sought me out to lead the way. Sounded like fun and I do love a challenge.
It's late summer, so I've decided on a few different styles of Cocktails that involve fruit, wine, gin, rum and brandy. One is prepared in a blender, one is shaken (not stirred) and the other is assembled and stirred, not shaken. The preparation of Simple syrup is also involved for one of these concoctions.
During the course of my research and deciding what to make for them, I stumbled across a very enlightening article about the use of ice in cocktails.
Published in Scientific American no less, I was fascinated to learn the origin of ice in cocktails, how different types of ice affect the drink, and how climate change is having an impact of the over use of ice in general by bartenders.
Now to most of us, we crack the ice cube tray or dispense ice from our ice makers and prepare a drink. As long as it's cold, we enjoy it. How ignorant we all are!
The article delves into everything from ice blocks, chipped ice, shaved ice, crushed ice, cubes and more. Even the best water to use for ice.
I'm not going to reproduce the article here, instead, I've created a link to it for you to read at your leisure. I encourage you to. Even if you never change your cocktail making habits, you'll have some great babble to expound on at cocktail parties!
Ice in your Cocktail
courtesy of Scientific American
article by Amy Bradley, July 1, 2023