Does ice really make a difference? You bet it does. Before you yawn and move on to the next blog, let me emphasize just how important ice is to making great cocktails. Ice does two things for a cocktail. It provides dilution and it also affects the temperature of the cocktail itself. Good ice is as essential to the production of quality cocktails as any other ingredient. In fact, in some cases, perhaps more so. Have you ever been to one of those bar where they serve their cocktails over shaved ice and the drink has become watery before you even pick it up? When a drink is on the rocks, it ought to stay on the rocks, at least for the length of time it takes you to consume your cocktail. Both of these ice cube trays on the market try to meet the need for quality cocktail ice. One does the job admirably, while the other is just too small. The Tovolo Perfect Cube tray (in red below), makes cubes that are 1 1/2 inches by 1 3/4 inches by my measurements, meaning that although its not a perfect cube, it does produce a nice dense cube. One important note here is that the bigger a cube is, the slower the rate of dilution that occurs. I actually took a pretty long nap while I had a glass of water filled with Tovolo cubes over the weekend and when I woke up, there were still rocks in the glass.
Design wise, there isn't much to recommend about the Tovolo. Made of silicon, removing the cubes can be a bit of a pain, but there is also no rim for excess water, meaning that the trip from sink to freezer can be perilous, especially after a couple of cocktails. The Tovolo wins my recommendation simply because it produces a larger, more satisfying cube of ice.
Silicone Zone's ice tray (pictured in orange below) is far better designed, featuring a lip to hold excess water, and seemingly easier to remove the cubes from the tray. The ease of removal of the cubes may simply be due to the size of the cubes and not a design factor. While clearly a better designed and more consumer friendly product, the Silicone Zone ice try has one fatal flaw. It produces cubes a mere 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch. Yes they are solid little cubes, but this is the equivalent of the chiclet of the ice cube world, too small to gain any real pleasure out of and a risk for diluting cocktails much faster. My criticisms of the Silicone Zone's dimunitive cubes aside, however, I would reach for these cubes if I was shaking a cocktail to serve up. I've shaken both the Tovolo cubes (quite an experience, it puts a lot more strain on the forearm but does make a nice cocktail) and the Silicone Zone cubes, and I appreciate the faster rate of dilution with the smaller cubes, as they won't be saying in the cocktail.
In the end, neither is a perfect product, but both can be useful to the home mixologist. My recommendation is to buy the Tovolo tray as more drinks are served on the rocks at home. Someday perhaps, Tovolo will redesign their tray or Silicone Zone will increase the size of their cubes, but until then either choice is an imperfect one.
5 comments:
You'll look for any excuse to make a Vanilla Ice reference, won't you? ;)
Is there a drink called a Vanilla Ice? If not, you should create one.
You know - that would be an interesting mixologist challenge. Come up with a name, then build a drink around that.
I never really thought the ice made much of a difference until I picked up some Tovolo trays a little over a year ago. You're right, the ice comes out perfect (if something of a pain to wrestle out of the silicone), and if you're accustomed to hand-cracking each cube when you're mixing, this ice works much better than what you get from a standard ice tray. Though the trays are kind of aggravating to handle--I'm constantly spilling water each time I refill them, both from the lack of lip along with the bendy nature of the material.
I put my Tovolo trays on a small rimmed cookie sheet (toaster-oven size fits 2 of them side by side) -- this keeps them flat in the freezer and also catches any spills.
Thanks for reminding me I need to make another batch for an upcoming party :)
Ive used the Tovolo perfect cube ice trays now for some time. It is without doubt the best ice cube tray I have ever used. A tip for removing the ice cubes more easily is to let the tray stand for a few minutes after removing from the freezer. Then the ice comes out more easily.
The containersCheap Guild Wars 2 Goldtend to be kind of aggravating to handle--I'm continuously dropping drinking water whenever My spouse and i re-fill them, equally in the absence of lip with the bendyRS Gold dynamics on the materials.
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