Ice, ice, baby

Cool. Confident. Calm. I spent this past Fourth of July weekend, blissfully, at a wellness lodge, meditating on these three words, learning to keep gratitude and warmth in my heart, and ice water in my veins. Ice baths can help reduce inflammation in our bodies, while splashing ice water on our faces has been proven to reset our minds. The physical nature of ice itself is a metaphor for stillness, as it can only form when the water molecules slow down enough that their attractions arrange them into fixed positions — a kind of molecular yoga.

Ice keeps our beer cold in the cooler at the beach. It chills, dilutes and its agitation oxidizes our cocktails when shaken, lending not only the perfect balance of flavor, but an aerated, “fluffier” texture as well. Though an essential component in all bartending, until recently, this was the extent of our appreciation for frozen water. However, there has been a phenomenon overtaking the craft bar industry over the past few years, a kind of “ice revolution,” during which certain mixologists have been deep-diving into this much overlooked, yet indispensable ingredient.

Like communication, the best ice is clear — perfectly transparent. It’s smooth, and free from inconsistencies. But how does one even begin to create such flawlessness? The answer is directional freezing. Think about your ice cube trays. The water exposed to the cold air at the top always freezes first, forcing any impurities down into the encased water at the bottom which freezes last. When you pop each ice cube out, the top remains clear while the bottom of the cube appears cloudy or even white. This is directional freezing. This can be done on a larger scale at home, given you have the freezer capacity, using a hard-sided, plastic cooler, insulating it on all sides and the bottom, leaving it open on top. Once the block is frozen, the ice block may be popped out and the cloudy portion of the ice may be removed using a bandsaw or hacksaw. This practice is done with no small amount of risk to one’s own personal safety, so unless you are well trained in such tools, I recommend saving yourself the trouble and purchasing your clear ice from one of the two local, large format, clear ice companies on Oahu.

In professional settings such as weddings and festivals, a machine called a Clinebell uses a similar concept of directional freezing to create enormous blocks from which are carved everything from swan sculptures to ice luges. Some craft cocktail bars are even investing in their own, small Clinebell machines so they may cut the ice to fit the specs of their specific glassware, saving them the extra cost of purchasing custom cubes.

Aside from being visually appealing, why is large format, clear ice preferable? For starters, if directional freezing isolates the impurities so that they may be removed, the remaining ice is not just clearer, but it is also purer, thereby allowing for an unpolluted dilution and a cleaner tasting cocktail. And while this detail may be imperceivable to most palates, in these health-conscious times of vegan restaurants and organic grocery stores, even imperceivable improvements to quality can add marketable value to a product.

Finally, there’s surface area. Whether it’s crystalline Kold-Draft cubes, limpid Hoshizaki half-moons, or the oblong opacity of party ice, the small pieces of traditional ice we use to fill our cups take up anywhere from 5 to 8 ounces of volume in a typical Highball or Collins glass. Similar volume is taken up by a single Collins ice spear, but the amount of total ice surface area is drastically reduced, thus reducing the rate and amount of dilution. The most skilled mixologists will even hand-chip individual blocks into perfectly polished spheres which have even less surface area than their large format, six-sided cousins, and therefore melt even slower, keeping your beverage frosty while allowing for only the most minimal dilution.

Whether your preference is the perfection of clear ice or the convenience of party ice, may your summer be filled with cool, calm, clarity of mind, body and spirit.

Ma’o 75

1 ounce Monkey 47 Schwarzwald dry gin

1 ounce The Perfect Purée Sweet Hibiscus

0.75 ounces fresh-pressed lemon juice

0.5 ounces housemade simple syrup (1:1)

2 ounces Avissi Prosecco

Alicia Yamachika is a bartender and craft mixologist, who currently is the key account manager at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits on Oahu. Follow her on Instagram (@alicia_yamachika). Her column will appear every second Wednesday in Crave.