Ice is critical at bars and restaurants, especially for craft cocktails. Just look at Kingfisher, a farm- and produce-inspired cocktail bar in downtown Durham, N.C., where they make four 25-pound blocks of ice daily. They do this with a specialty machine from Loveland, Colo.-based Clinebell Equipment Company, which supplies ice makers and related materials. From there, the Kingfisher team takes a chainsaw and breaks down the 25-pound cubes into smaller cubes and spears.
“If you aren’t at least thinking about your ice, you are missing a core value-add,” said Sean Umstead, one of the co-owners and creative minds behind Kingfisher, a 2023 semifinalist for Outstanding Bar with the James Beard Awards. “People will love the smallest touches. We add our logo to the top of our cubes with a small brass stamp. It takes an extra three seconds but guests love it.”
Alex Serrena, bar manager at Teleferic Barcelona, which has multiple California locations, said they take pride in using high-quality, clear ice for their cocktails. “We use large cubes for spirit-forward drinks and have a selection of custom ice molds for special presentations. We also offer dry ice and spheres, as well as regular clear cubes for the majority of our cocktails.”
At Miami based UNA Vodka, they use ice that complements their floral-infused spirits. “For special events and signature cocktails, we often incorporate floral ice that aligns with the botanicals in our vodka, adding an extra dimension of flavor and visual appeal,” explained Leticia Fernández de Mesa, the founder and CEO of the company. “This attention to detail ensures that every cocktail not only tastes exceptional but also looks stunning.”
For Leonard Brown, the cocktail mixologist and bartender at the Brass Tack bar and restaurant at Waldorf Astoria Chicago, having a crushed ice machine is a game changer. “It provides versatility for a broad array of cocktail styles, i.e. tiki- and mule-style cocktails,” he said. “Also, its ability to quickly chill wine bottles speaks to the luxury brand that the Waldorf Astoria Chicago represents.”
How Important Is Ice at a Bar or Restaurant?
According to Serrena, ice is incredibly important in a bar or restaurant setting. “It not only chills drinks but also affects their dilution, texture, and overall presentation,” he said. “Properly managed ice can elevate the quality of cocktails and contribute to a better drinking experience for guests.”
De Mesa agrees. “Ice is paramount at any bar or restaurant,” she said. “It's not just a means to chill a drink, it plays a crucial role in the overall drinking experience. Properly selected and crafted ice can enhance the flavor, appearance, and enjoyment of a cocktail.”
For Mat Snapp, executive vice president of operations at Barter & Shake Cocktail Entertainment – which operates Century Grand, an award-winning cocktail destination, ice is key. “It’s vital if your program centers on – or desires to be recognized as – a quality establishment serving quality ingredients,” he said. “If you are a night club serving thousands of vodka sodas, your ice concern is simply never running out, but if you boast a calculated and sincere cocktail program, every aspect of the guest experience must be as good as you can make it – including the ice.”
Umstead encouraged all bar and restaurant operators to think about ice and how it fits into the overall establishment, as well as the cocktails themselves. “I think ice is something everyone should consider,” he said. “It says something about your bar or restaurant. Are you fun, fast, and energetic? Maybe get chewable pebble ice. Are you a relaxed neighborhood place with good prices? Keep the ice old school and simple. Want to say you are upscale and thoughtful? Full size cubes or hand cut ice help push that narrative.”
Brown pointed out that ice has increasingly become a huge part of a guest’s cocktail experience. “While recently having cocktails at one of Chicago’s newest celebrity restaurants, my dining partner mentioned how she loved her cocktail but didn’t care for the kind of ice it was served with,” he shared. “Her daisy-style cocktail was presented in a rocks glass loaded with small format cubes, meaning faster dilution and flavor degradation.”
Indeed, customers are becoming more educated about ice and taking notice of the ice in their glass.
Get Inspired by Ice and How It Can Be Used in Cocktails (or Mocktails)
Carlos Leal, owner of Mixology Ice – an innovative company that focuses on clear ice for the bar, restaurant, and hospitality industry – said ice is a food and beverage category that’s been taken for granted and seen the least innovation in the last 100 years; however, that is quickly changing, as customers demand better cocktails and experiences.
“The bar culture has evolved, and all ingredients are now important,” said Leal. “We are detaching from cheap, regular, non-quality ingredients, and ice is no less, embracing ice and its plurality of shapes that are offered to bars as an infinite source of inspiration and enough game to help impress and transcend into the eye of the beholder… the customer.”
Brown, of the Brass Tack at Waldorf Astoria Chicago, believes that having a variety of ice selections to work with isn’t just “fancy,” it truly adds value to the guest experience. “The ‘wow factor’ that it provides, demonstrates that an organization has put serious thought into every detail of the guest experience,” he said.
Damian deMagistris, co-owner and director of operations for The Wellington in Belmont, Mass., said ice is actually the unsung hero of the bar and that it’s “the legs” on which the drink runs. “Giving it more attention will only improve your game,” he said.
Robert J. Midyette, vice president of food and beverage at Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover, Md., pointed out that just as a chef finds inspiration from unique ingredients when designing a menu, ice is an additional building block of any cocktail, which can shape a unique beverage.
“Any great mixologist should not overlook any ingredient which can make a beverage better,” said Midyette. “Ice is to a cocktail as heat is to food – it is a necessary step which defines a dish. Without it, it lacks a key element. Rather than feeling locked into liquors, mixers, and toppings as inspiration, restauranteurs can turn to ice as an additional piece of the puzzle in creating cocktails which bring joy to the tastebuds. Not only does it change the flavor profile, visual appearance, and temperature of the drink, it speaks to the creativity of the mixologist when ice is considered as an equally important part of the overall beverage."
The Most Common Types of Ice at a Bar or Restaurant
Steve Groom, the general manager at Costera, a coastal Spanish restaurant in New Orleans, said the multi-purpose ice being churned out by commercial ice machines is likely to account for the vast majority of ice in bars and restaurants today. However, some higher-end machines make quality cubes or crushed ice, but most make the kind of ice you might get in a bag at a supermarket or gas station. “Silicone trays for various-sized cubes are common, though services exist offering professionally cut, crystal-clear cubes available for delivery,” he shared.
Brown, of the Brass Tack, said simple small cubes that are generated by a commercial ice machine are standard for all bars, dives, burger, pizza, and hot dog joints. “The next level is highly filtered water for those machines, which means less cloudy, more neutral-flavored ice,” he said. “This is a huge advantage for well-crafted cocktails and for chilling more expensive craft spirits.”
Serrena, of Teleferic Barcelona, gave an overview of some of the most common types of ice that are used at bars and restaurants, including:
- Cubed Ice: Standard cubes used in most cocktails.
- Crushed Ice: Often used in tiki drinks and juleps.
- Nugget Ice: Soft, chewable ice that’s popular in some highball drinks.
- Sphere Ice: Large spheres used for slow dilution in spirit-forward drinks, such as an Old Fashioned.
- Block Ice: Used for carving and creating custom ice shapes.
- Dry Ice: Used for cooling rapidly and special effects, such as creating fog or smoke.
Midyette, of Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, noted that of the numerous ice options, one of the not-so-common types is the Collins spear, which works well for drinks that are served in a tall, skinny glass. “In addition to a unique appearance, they also dilute slowly, preserving the flavor of the liquor and its mixers, and maintain bubbles due to its ability to retain CO2,” he explained. “For a drink that is led by its ‘fizz,’ this ice can be a game changer.”
While most professionals in the industry are familiar with dry ice, it’s another less common ice but unique way to play with presentation, according to Midyette. “While this ice should not be directly consumed – and staff must be trained on its proper and improper use – it can offer a smokey event, which is often used in cocktails with a smoke-forward flavor, such as an Old Fashioned,” he said. “This creates the perfect Instagrammable moment, which so many bartenders strive to achieve.”
Leal, of Mixology Ice, said there’s a myriad of new glassware styles, shapes, and sizes coming to market, so custom tailoring of ice is the future, in terms of type of ice. “Custom shapes and sizes of ice, customized cuts, and patterns added to the ice are now claiming 40 percent of all production,” he said, adding that there’s nothing like a fully 3D piece of pristine ice to help push a statement. “No one wants – if they can avoid it – to be normal, everyone looks for the extra mile.”
Tips for Choosing the Right Ice for a Cocktail
Groom, of Costera, explained that before a bar operator even thinks about the right ice for the right cocktail, other considerations should come first.
Budget, space, the ability to maintain the quality of the ice, and cleanliness of facilities should all take precedence – from an operations standpoint – over the use of ice. “Form follows function,” said Groom. “So, the next question is: Is it the right fit? If the volume of drinks you're serving exceeds your capacity for consistency, you may want to reconsider hand-carved ice cubes, for instance.”
When it comes to choosing the right ice for a cocktail (or even mocktail), Barter & Shake’s Snapp said start with glassware. “If the ice you’re trying to use doesn’t fit, you look silly and risk the guest not being able to successfully get liquid to lips, which will always be the point,” he said. “Once glassware has been chosen, think on duration of enjoyment – something light and carbonated needs to stay cold and shouldn’t dilute too much, so a Collins spear is a nice touch, for example.”
Choosing the right ice also involves considering the drink's composition and desired experience, according to Serrena of Teleferic Barcelona. “For example, spirit-forward cocktails benefit from large, slow-melting ice to maintain the integrity of the drink, while crushed ice is ideal for drinks that require quick chilling and dilution,” he shared. “The visual appeal and texture are also important factors.”
Umstead, of Kingfisher, said picking the right ice should be based on the dilution you want for the cocktail. “A large, clear ice cube will melt slower and retain the integrity of a cocktail like an old fashioned or negroni,” he shared. “Crushed ice will chill things quickly and keep things ice cold, but you want richer syrups and juices in those drinks that can hold up to the excess dilution without getting watered down.”
DeMagistris, of The Wellington, also stressed that it’s important to understand dilution and the desired texture of the drink you're making. “The ice should maintain the drink over time, not bring it into a puddle of water,” he said. “If it's a slow sipper, like a nice bourbon, go with a big jumbo cube. If it's a margarita on the rocks, shake it with good, strong, sturdy ice cubes but always strain it over a rocks glass packed to the brim with fresh ice. Go by the book.”
DeMagistris added that ice shouldn't be viewed as a trendy or intimidating thing; it should be viewed as a functional tool that does its magic over time. “To understand it best, have your staff experience a full drink over time and document the transformation,” suggested deMagistris. “Literally write down the palate/flavor, texture, viscosity, temperature, sweetness, acidity over the span of enjoying the drink. A drink that loses itself completely over time is likely a bad combo of ice. While a drink that evolves perfectly over time and finishes in a happy place is where you want to be.”
While there are no hard and fast rules about what kind of ice to use for each cocktail/spirit, according to Brown of the Brass Tack, there’s a growing consensus about which kind of ice improves each experience. “Case in point is the use of large format cubes for certain kinds of spirits – i.e. whiskies and craft tequilas – allowing patrons to enjoy them slowly without the concern of an expensive spirit becoming quickly watered down.”
Ice Should Be Considered in the Initial Phases of Developing a Beverage
In the end, it’s up to the beverage director or mixologist to choose the right ice for any cocktail or mocktail, revealed Midyette of Live! Casino & Hotel. “Each beverage should be considered independently of others to decide the level of dilution, presentation, and format which will best accompany the other ingredients,” he said. “Ice should be considered in the initial phases of developing a beverage menu and logistics such as storage should be taken into account simultaneously.”
Midyette pointed out that it’s not always possible to house every type of ice behind the bar, so it’s paramount that the beverage director considers this when curating the cocktail menu. “It may come down to designing a menu in which a select number of ice types can complement every drink on the menu,” he said. “For those who are prioritizing cocktails over all else, it may require investing in ice as a primary ingredient to not take away from the taste and appearance of any of the cocktails. For example, a whiskey-driven menu may choose to prioritize sphere ice, because its limited surface areas melt slowly and limit dilution. For juice or syrup-heavy cocktails, crushed ice is preferred because it melts quickly and thins out the syrup taste. If it is not feasible to feature several ice types, a reliable option across the board is a standard square ice cube, which is complementary to most cocktails without melting too quickly.”
Aaron Kiel is an editor, writer and public relations professional in Raleigh, N.C., who’s worked in the beverage, tea and coffee industries for two decades, as well as hospitality and technology. He’s a journalist at heart, but he also wears a PR and communications hat through his consultancy, ak PR Group. Aaron is a contributing writer/reporter for Questex’s Bar & Restaurant News and he’s a past editor of Questex’s World Tea News. In 2023, he was a finalist and honorable mention in the “Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards” for Range of Work by a Single Author – B2B,” and in 2024, he won a Gold Northeast Region Award in the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ (ASBPE) Azbee Awards in the category of Editorial Excellence for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Aaron also received a 2024/2025 ASBPE Diversity Fellowship Award, which supports and recognizes diversity in the field of B2B journalism. Connect with him on Instagram: @adventurer_explorer or visit akprgroup.com.
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