Ice to Meet You

I was asked to write a review of a new product recently.  I was asked to take a look at Arctic Chill Ice Ball makers. I decided that I would review them, and while I was at it  I would do some experimenting with Ice in general while I was at it.

Arctic Chills Ice Ball Makers

First off, let's talk about the Ice Ball Makers. they are blue silicon and come in a pack of four.  The MSRP is a thrifty $19.95. They are a rather simple design, from the outside looking like one of those stress balls. The bottom is flat which keeps them from rolling all over your freezer. They are filled through a hole in the top. this already is a plus in my book. I have some of the Tovolo Ice Ball molds too, and they are a pain to fill. To fill the Arctic Chills I simply stick them under the faucet and chuck them in the freezer. They are also easy to remove from the mold, because the mold is silicone it stays soft in the freezer and they pop right out. My Tovolos require running them under water to get them to release from the mold. So far they are easier to fill and unmold, is there a downside? Yes, but it is minor. The hole in the top tends to leave a nub on the top of the ice ball, so it isn't a perfectly round ball. Also, I have noticed that all four of my molds popped open a little bit along the hemisphere, leaving a ridge around the middle of the finished balls. Both of these could be easily remedied by pouring a little bit of water out before placing them in the freezer. Overall, I like these ice balls makers, they are easier to use than my Tovolos and a better deal. They are available here.

Before: At the beginning of the experiment

Now, I also wanted to take a look at the different strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of ice. I decided to do a head to head comparison test with some actual data collected as well. Here are the research parameters: I took 6 pint glasses, (mainly because these are the only 6 glasses I have that are all the same). Each glass had 4 oz of colored water, more on why it was colored in a bit, to which there were 5 different kinds of ice. The water came from the filtered water dispenser in my fridge so it was already chilled. The first glass was left iceless to serve as a control. The second glass had 4 oz of crushed ice, the third 4 oz of cube ice. Both the crushed and cubed came from the ice maker in my fridge. Next to that was a single large ice cube at 1 inch square. The fifth glass had an ice ball fresh out of the Arctic Chill maker. The last glass had 4 whiskey stones, small cubes of soapstone that are supposed to chill your drink without diluting it.

After: 1 hour later.

I used colored water to be able to compare the rate of dilution, the ice wasn't colored so the water would be become paler as the ice melted. I measured the temperature of the drink in each glass at the start, and then after 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 minutes. I also decided to stop the testing when the drink hit 60 deg F. There were some interesting results, I won't post the whole chart here, but it is available if you are curious. With the exception of the control and the stones, each drink hit it's lowest temperature through the first ten minutes. As expected the crushed ice was the coldest at first, but after 40 minutes all but the largest pieces were completely melted. The ice cubes were comparable to the crushed ice in temperature and lasted longer with slightly less dilution. The big ice cube and the ice ball were comparable in temperature through most of the test, with the ice ball being slightly colder. After 30 minutes, however the ice cube was noticeably smaller and the drink was correspondingly diluted. The Ice ball was still about 80% of original size after an hour. The Whiskey Stones were virtually useless. They started off only 4 degrees colder than the iceless control and after 20 minutes was only a degree or two lower than the control through the rest of the test. Maybe they work better with a pre-chilled drink. To summarize the findings: if you wanted the drink to chill quickly crushed ice is the way to go, likewise if you want the ice to dilute quickly (i.e. many Tiki drinks) crushed ice is the answer. If you want a drink that is chilled with some dilution, but over a longer period, the ice ball is the proper choice.

Benefits of Aging

Let me set you at ease, this post has nothing to do with my own impending fatherhood or indeed about me growing older. I am still going to celebrate my 25th birthday next July, (for the ninth year in a row). Instead this post is about small barrel aging at home. Going back to my last 25th birthday in 2012 one of my presents was a 1 liter oak barrel for at home aging. I started almost right way in aging rum. I selected a pretty innocuous rum, DonQ Cristal, with the intent of aging it for almost a year with the idea being of turning it into a roughly 12 year old rum. Alas, I underestimated just how greedy the angels are, particularly in a small barrel, so when I opened it up at 9 months I had less than a 750ml bottle left. It was also over-oaked, it tasted far too much like licking the barrel. Not to say that it doesn't work in certain tiki applications. What I haven't already drunk is visible on the far left in the photo.

Next I noticed that the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had Neisson Agricole Blanc on clearance, so I went and picked up two 1 liter bottles. This was an easy decision to add the liter bottle of rum to the liter oak barrel. This time I was more judicious and removed it from the barrel after 6 weeks. This had a most interesting effect as now there is a distinct banana flavor in the nose and it is deliciously smooth. You can see the unaged Neisson on the left of the barrel and the now golden Rhum on the right of the barrel.

Once again though the barrel was empty. Time to try something else. It was also at around this time that the El Presidente really came back onto my radar. This Manhattan-like rum drink makes a delightful after dinner drink and as a bonus I can make it without having to squeeze a lime. I pulled up Jeffrey Morgenthaler's recipe and went with it. I used a bottle of Bacardi 8 that I had sitting around and Noilly Prat dry vermouth. It sat in the barrel for about a month and I just drained it into the bottle seen on the right. The oakiness is noticeable, but not overwhelming. The convenience is amazing though, I can have a really nice cocktail by doing nothing more than pouring 3 ounces over some ice to chill it and then strain it into a serving glass. This will be most useful during my impending fatherhood.

Once again though the barrel is empty and I need to find something else to put in it. I'm leaning towards another rum cocktail or a batch of bitters. Feel free to add suggestions below.