Your Ice Stinks—Our Drinks Editor Recommends These Molds Instead
We spoke with Half Full Editor Noah Rothbaum about why good ice is important to cocktails, and how he makes his at home.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Scouted/Amazon
Summer is equivalent to cocktails in my book, and this year, I’m looking forward to upping my game. For a little help, I enlisted Noah Rothbaum, Half Full’s Editor and co-host of the podcast Life Behind Bars, who already gave me some tips about citrus juicers. The next big thing he said, to a great cocktail, is having good ice.
“The problem with the cubes produced by most standard ice trays (or machines) is that they’re too small and melt way too quickly, which waters down a cocktail,” Noah told me.
This is why Noah prefers these ice trays over just about every other ice trays and machines out there.
“I like to have several of Tovolo’s so-called Perfect Cube Ice Molds in my freezer at all times,” he said. “Each tray produces 15 cubes that are each 1¼ inches. They are perfect for shaken or stirred cocktails, a tall glass of water, or a pitcher of margaritas.”
Perfect Cube Ice Molds
He added that if you want something bigger, especially to enjoy with whiskey, “Tovolo’s Large King Craft Ice Molds are perfect for the job. Because of the cubes’ large size, they melt very slowly and dilute your whiskey just a bit.”
Large King Craft Ice Molds
“Other trays that I have tested out can be much harder to use: Either the cubes are impossible to get out or the trays are so flimsy they can’t stand up on their own,” he told me. “Tovolo’s ice trays are stiff enough to stand on their own until the ice forms. They also make it super easy to pop out the cubes—no need to tap them or run them under hot water.”
Best of all, Noah added, “anyone with a freezer can make great ice using these molds. I always have several in my freezer ready to go if I need to make drinks. For parties, I usually make several batches of ice cubes ahead of time and transfer them to Ziploc bags.”
I decided to give Noah’s ice molds a run for their money. The Perfect Cube Molds really did make perfect cubes that, without fail, were easy to remove from the mold, and in comparison to my old ice cubes, melted much slower.
And then the Large King Craft Molds were great too. It was a pleasure to drink with such a giant ice cube that was slow to melt and easy to remove, and I love that I have both mini and ginormous ice cubes to play around with, too. My cocktails have never tasted better, and I have Noah to thank (and Tovolo of course).
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