The Spirit World

It seems the latest item to fall victim to the designer and artisanal trend is ice. Yes, I said ice.

Now, I guess this shouldn’t really surprise me as this trend actually started years ago. We all know how to make an ice ring from fruit slices and lemonade, orange juice or some other punch ingredient to float in our punch. Not only did this keep the beverage chilled but it provided decoration while keeping the punch from becoming watered-down over the course of that bridal shower or other festive event!

Likewise, we’ve all seen tips about making ice cubes from something like tomato juice to keep a beverage like our Bloody Mary from becoming diluted. And for years plastic ice cubes in all manner of shapes, colors and sizes have been available for this same purpose.

Additionally, ice cube trays have been available in various shapes for more years than I can remember. So I guess this latest trend shouldn’t surprise me but it did catch me a bit off guard.

On this morning’s Today Show, they did a taste test with designer ice cubes made from bottled water - pre-measured, sealed ice cubes. Interesting.

Add to that an article in the August 2006 issue of Food and Wine Magazine called 4 Artisanal Ice Capades. This little sidebar talks about who’s doing what with ice in the cocktail world.

• At the Pegu Club in New York they use an extra-large, slow-melting cube for spirits on the rocks.
• At Little Branch, also in New York, they custom make ice for each shape of glass.
• Ryan Margarian, cocktail consultant, likes the Clawson ice-crusher for mojitos and caipirinhas.
• And at Boston’s No. 9 Park, Ryan McGrale uses an Ice-O-Mat to shave cubes for daiquiris.

Although I think this attention to detail is interesting and entertaining I’m wondering how much it adds to the cost of those already expensive cocktails I like to consume.