Ice ball is not just an ice cube! Contrary to what you might think, whisky and ice do not necessarily go well together. At the risk of attracting the wrath of purists, ice can exalt certain aromas of whisky. We can go a little further and see that in Japan, mixologists make this “icicle” a true artistic discipline. Follow the guide…
The goal :
The goal of Ice Ball is to refresh your whisky without diluting it. The first thing to pay attention to when forming an Ice Ball is the quality of the ice, the block of ice that is going to be turned into an Ice Ball. This block should not contain any air bubbles, so that the Ice Ball melts more slowly in your glass. So the idea is to drink the whiskey refreshes but before it is diluted with water.
The tools to shape an Ice Ball:
2 methods will compete on this subject. The first one is to use a very sharp knife. The second method is to bring 2 kinds of ice picks: a pick with a single pin to rough the block and a pick with 3 pins to create the sphere; see the video below. Be careful when using these tools which can be very dangerous!
Be careful not to tap water to form your ice cubes!
Its shape :
The idea of the Ice Ball is that it should fit the width of the glass perfectly. The ice must touch the walls of the glass in order to cool it. We consider that this perfect sphere will not melt for almost 30 minutes. A bartender must therefore create it without exceeding 2 or 3 minutes to give the taster time to enjoy his whisky without it being diluted.
The method :
Once the Ice Ball is created, the bartender will place it in the glass, add water, rotate the sphere of ice to cool the glass. The water is then emptied and we will be able to add the whiskey by pouring it on the top of the frozen sphere. The bartender will turn this ice cube one last time and delicately to refresh the whisky.
Finally and if you do not want to bother to “cut” the ice, there are many brands of molds specially designed for the formation of Ice Ball !!!
—
If you are intersted by mixology, then this is it!
If you are intersted by our spirits, then this is it!
In general, are you interested in the world of alcohol, distillation and the Valour + Lemaire universe ? Then subscribe to our newsletter to receive our articles and follow our blog.
Recent Comments