Ice Ice baby

I know quite a few of my friends who think that when a cocktail is served with a glass full of ice at the bar, he is being cheated. The myth is that the drink has only ice and very little alcohol. People seldom realise that ice is as important to a cocktail as any other ingredient. And popping the glass full of ice is by no means a way of duping you. There is a good reason for doing so. Lets explore.

Although its effects may be subtle, ice is an integral part of a properly made cocktail, and shouldn't be ignored.The most obvious consideration is flavor.Ice not only chills drinks , but as it melts it becomes a part of the mix and because of this, the frozen water deserves more than a little attention.

If you add just a cube or two of ice, eventually its melts into water and becomes part of your drink.Nothing wrong. But what happens to the temperature of the drink? When you sipped first , the drink is nice and cold, because of the ice cube. But as it melts down, the drink also comes to room temperature gradually. This gives varying flavours to your drink from the beginning to the end. Thus it is important, to keep the flavour and temperature of the drink consistent from start to finish, to use more ice than just a a couple of cubes.

If you are planning to nurse your drink a little longer than regular, I would suggest you go for larger, thicker surface cubes as they melt slowly and causes less dilution. It is customary to fill a glass 2/3 full for best results. However, you might not be able to get those big cubes for home use. Its OK to use the traditional tray ice at home, only remember to keep changing or rotating the ice cubes for fresh is best. Avoid storing ice near to fish or meat as ice has a tendency to absorb odours around it. This might give a fishy taste to your drink.

So next time you are at a bar, don't give that snare to your bar-tender for dropping in too much ice.