What are you drinking right now?

[EZETHATSME]

A dram of The Glenlivet. This is the first bottle of Scotch I've ever purchased. Loving it.

 

[Matto ELITE]



I saw one of those Macallan Ball Makers used at this incredibly vapid yet tony DC hotel I stayed at for business, where a stunning yet somewhat disaffected hostess wheeled it over (very slowly -- if you move too quickly, the facade of cool might break) on a cart along with my Balvenie, which was already resting in a perfectly good Glencairn glass.

She leaned over the device and pushed up and down on its 'Macallan' emblazoned handle in a rhythmical, vaguely sexual and incredibly bored manner, then lifted the top to reveal a sphere of white ice. I didn't understand this show, nor why the ice was white. Regardless, it was removed and placed in a tumbler, whereupon the Balvenie was poured on top. This performance was apparently an apology for the :30 minutes it had taken to get my scotch, as no one else in my party had received the same treatment, despite ordering far more expensive whisky. I'm not sure, but I believe that I was in some way supposed to be impressed. The little tumbler struggled to hold the ice ball and my whisky, just as I struggled not to spill it as she handed it to me. Then I noticed a funny thing. My scotch was bubbling. Scotch does many wonderful things, but bubbling is not one of them. I deduced the bubbling was on account of the white iceball inside, which was frozen so quickly that air was trapped inside and released by the melting of the successive layers.

The experience was incredibly bizarre, and I reflected upon it a month later, at a cocktail bar in Tokyo. I had just ordered a vintage sherried Karuizawa whisky. I was presented with two to taste in crystal nosing glasses. After I had made my selection, our wonderful bartender Kaori Kurakami took a frosted ice ball from her freezer with tongs, placed it in a tall, tapered crystal tumbler and poured 2 oz of my Karuizawa on top. As the whisky hit the frosted ice, the submerged part instantly disappeared because it went completely clear. Completely. Clear as the immaculately polished crystal tumbler. My jaw dropped a little, I think. Kaori-sama then deftly rotated the ice with the fork end of her cocktail spoon, and the already seemingly-spherical ice became perfectly spherical before my eyes as the corners of the tiny facets melted off. The glass was placed in front of me, along with the bottle of scotch for my inspection. Each step was performed by Kaori-sama with great care and immense pride. The perfectly clear ice ball had been carved by her own hands earlier that day from a huge block.

So, no, too-cool-for-school DC hostess, I was not impressed by your performance and bubbling ice ball. Not impressed at all.

Anyway, I am on the quest for perfectly clear ice. It is too freaking awesome. Not implying, Piob, that your ice bubbles; the thing I was served was like a snowball.

~ H

IIRC, using distiller water removes the cloudiness vs using regular tap

 

[Huntsman]

IIRC, using distiller water removes the cloudiness vs using regular tap

Distilled water makes a moderate improvement, as does double-boiled water. I've been using distilled for my large ice cubes for years now. But it is insufficient. The real issue is that there is quite a lot of air trapped in water, and as it freezes, the air gets pushed out by the advancing freezing front. The problem is that the freezing occurs faster than the air can be pushed out, so the ice freezes around the air, making cloudy bubbles.

 

[b1os]

We had that cloudy-ice discussion a while back (in the bar thread, IIRC). If I'm not mistaken, the solution was to freeze the ice as slowly as possible, so temperatures just below the freezing point would be ideal.

 

[kwilkinson]

Bruichladdich Laddie Classic.

 

[Piobaire]



Nice. Did you use the macallan ice ball maker or another?

$10 set of silicon molds off Amazon.

 

[sonick]



$10 set of silicon molds off Amazon.

Ware 2 kop?

 

[Piobaire]

http://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-Sphere-Ice-Molds-Set/dp/B007ACTN54/ref=pd_sim_k_1

 

[erictheobscure]

..

 

[Piobaire]



..

What are the ingredients to that?

 

[Fred G. Unn]

Drinking Ardbeg 10. My mother-in-law is in town. We're all drunk. It's better that way.

 

[b1os]

Moscow Mule (Thomas Henry/Smirnoff black), Gin Tonic (Thomas Henry/Hendrick's), Bennet, Bennet (Beefeater 94 proof), Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban, Ardbeg 10

 

[cptjeff]

I made myself a mojito, which was going great until I realized that I don't actually have any seltzer. It still tastes reasonably good, but it's just not the same with plain old water.

 

[b1os]



I made myself a mojito, which was going great until I realized that I don't actually have any seltzer. It still tastes reasonably good, but it's just not the same with plain old water.

Oh, there have been numerous occasions where I've had great mint (yes, great... I've recently purchased some mint that was terrifying) and thought: "Great, I'm gonna make myself a Mojito right now", until I realized that in fact I've had no seltzer around. Haven't tried it with plain water yet.

 

[cptjeff]



Oh, there have been numerous occasions where I've had great mint (yes, great... I've recently purchased some mint that was terrifying) and thought: "Great, I'm gonna make myself a Mojito right now", until I realized that in fact I've had no seltzer around. Haven't tried it with plain water yet.

This was done to the point of, "okay, and now I need to add seltzer", before noticing the complete absence thereof. At that point, I didn't have much choice, and I wouldn't really recommend using plain water by choice.