Ice has always been ice and always will be. However, the ice industry is only a century old – while the cocktail industry is two – and the forms it takes have been changing according to mixology trends. From the thick cubes that filled balloon glasses next to our gin and tonic, we have gone on to perfect crystalline spheres that are the most aesthetically pleasing. In addition, Spain stands out in the ice industry: it is the country with the largest number of factories in Europe.
“We are precursors when it comes to ice,” explains Iván Gómez, commercial manager in Madrid and Barcelona of the company As de Hielo. “We are also the leading ice exporter and trend setter.” And what is the trend? “The hospitality industry increasingly requires large, quality ice, which does not bleed easily and is in perfect condition.”
Common ice, which in its different sizes weighs from 30 g to 70 g, is still alive, as is pearl ice or frappe ice. To these have been added some premium ice, with a crystalline appearance: “5 cm x 5 cm cubes, 12 cm x 5 cm sticks or ingots and the sphere, which is the novelty in recent years, of 45 g and 4, 5 cm in diameter or in its 6 cm format, totally crystalline and very showy”.
From the Madrid cocktail bar Santamaría, its owners Frederick Joel Castillo Javier, Néstor Matos and Iñaki Font agree with Gómez. “Larger, pure crystalline ice gives much more room for serving, creating and garnishing cocktails, and is currently preferred.” The bartenders add that the sector is much more attentive today to the dilution of ice and its effects, as well as the type of water used to make it. “The quality of the ice has improved to such an extent that companies specializing in the art of ice have been created.”
Santamaría is one of the cocktail bars that has its own ice machine, some Hoshizake with which they make crushed ice and ingots that are later carved by hand to adapt to the measurements of the glasses. “For the shake -they clarify- we use standard ice to give the cocktails their part of dilution”.
For the writer and cocktail consultant François Monti, Spain is in luck when it comes to glacial issues. “Even cheap, gas station ice has exceptional quality compared to that found in other countries in Europe and also the United States. This distinguishes Spain from other cocktail scenes: here we have good specialized suppliers available and there they are forced to buy their own machines because they don’t exist”.
Monti believes that although it cannot be said that the ice has improved a lot because we started from a good base, care for it has done to offer a good presentation. “Now it is almost impossible to have a cocktail menu without this crystalline ice”, he comments. Likewise, he points out an error in which he is falling: “we are in a phase where sometimes the need to create a beautiful and spectacular drink for a photo or for Instagram, for which these solid ices are used, dictates more than a reflection from the professional about what type of ice each drink needs. When I see a highball-type cocktail with a column of ice that occupies the entire space of the glass, it looks beautiful and attractive, but I think that perhaps the drink suffers because of this ice. There is a fetish for ice and we forget about the practical part”.
Many bartenders say that ice is for them what fire is for cooks, explains Monti in his Mueble Bar (Abalon Books, 2022). Ice cools, yes, but it also provides a necessary dilution in many drinks. “For example, the Mai-Tai is a cocktail that is very intense in alcohol and sugar: it has a lot of orgeat syrup, some classic recipes also add simple syrup and a liqueur. It is a dense cocktail that cannot be served without ice. It is served over crushed ice because it will provide more cold and dilution, and it will hold the texture of the cocktail”.
Conversely, serving a drink over large, solid ice will result in a slower dilution, there will not be much evolution of the cocktail and, therefore, we will use them with cocktails that are already perfect at the time of pouring. “If I want it to evolve, like a Negroni, that is going to open up while you are drinking, the most logical thing would be to serve it on several ice cubes. By having a smaller contact surface, the dilution will be a little faster than with the big ice cube, and an evolution will be achieved: the balance of the drink will be altered, something that can be positive and an objective to achieve”. In other words, the drink will not taste the same from start to finish, as Monti recounts what happened with the Old-Fashioned: its first sip must be very strong and the subsequent ones softened thanks to the passage of time. And to the ice.
