NLove
New member
This isn`t detailing related, but lots of us here are detail oriented so I hope this post can entertain\inspire a few people. I went out with some friends about a month and a half ago to a speak easy that had some really good Old Fashions. One of my favorite visuals about the drink was the large, square, crystal clear ice cube. Ever since then I have been on a mission to make similar ice so clear that it nearly disappears in a drink. I finally succeeded.
I started off buying the 2" silicon trays and that gave me cloudy ice no matter what kind of water I used (my tap water here has a high TDS content). After a lot of research, I found out the second part of the equation besides the water is directional freezing. When you have a normal ice cube trays the water starts to freeze from all sides leaving you with cloudy ice because of expansion. The key is you need the water to freeze from one direction, so ultimately you need some type of insulation such as a cooler so when you put the water in the freezer if freezes from the top down.
Rather than buying a smaller cooler and manually cutting the ice or taking other measures with cutting and propping ice cube trays I found a product called True Cubes. I get clear ice every time. I do get some small bubbles occasionally on the outside, but those melt go away in first few minutes of setting the ice cube out. You want the cube to warm up a bit before you pour or put it in a drink so it doesn`t crack. I have made a bunch of cubes and store them in plastic bags. In my freezer it usually takes about 14 - 16 hours for the top cubes to fully form before I can take them out of the mold, I have never let the bottom cubes (which you discard) freeze completely, it makes the process a little easier.
I hope people enjoy this post and maybe even inspire you to make your own clear ice whatever way you choose. It`s a great way to impress family\friends\company and if nothing else it was a cool experiment. You can also put mint leaves, fruit, etc. in the cubes which is great with water or any drink of your choosing.
I started off buying the 2" silicon trays and that gave me cloudy ice no matter what kind of water I used (my tap water here has a high TDS content). After a lot of research, I found out the second part of the equation besides the water is directional freezing. When you have a normal ice cube trays the water starts to freeze from all sides leaving you with cloudy ice because of expansion. The key is you need the water to freeze from one direction, so ultimately you need some type of insulation such as a cooler so when you put the water in the freezer if freezes from the top down.
Rather than buying a smaller cooler and manually cutting the ice or taking other measures with cutting and propping ice cube trays I found a product called True Cubes. I get clear ice every time. I do get some small bubbles occasionally on the outside, but those melt go away in first few minutes of setting the ice cube out. You want the cube to warm up a bit before you pour or put it in a drink so it doesn`t crack. I have made a bunch of cubes and store them in plastic bags. In my freezer it usually takes about 14 - 16 hours for the top cubes to fully form before I can take them out of the mold, I have never let the bottom cubes (which you discard) freeze completely, it makes the process a little easier.
I hope people enjoy this post and maybe even inspire you to make your own clear ice whatever way you choose. It`s a great way to impress family\friends\company and if nothing else it was a cool experiment. You can also put mint leaves, fruit, etc. in the cubes which is great with water or any drink of your choosing.
