How To Keep Your Cool In The Heat: Four ice styles for drinks photoshoots
How To Keep Your Cool In The Heat: Four ice styles for drinks photoshoots
As drink Photographers, we love ice. The right ice choice is such an important ingredient for the perfect cocktail. Get it wrong and it can make or break an image.
But when you just want to stay cool in this crazy heat, and enjoy your favourite drink - it’s well worth considering the ice you are using (although it doesn’t need to be photogenic).
Beating The Heat
Does the type of ice you use in your drink matter?
The right type of ice in your drink does three things:
1: It lowers the temperature, making it more enjoyable and refreshing.
2: It adds water, gently diluting the alcohol to improve the flavour.
3: It adds texture - especially a glass full of crushed ice, looks impressive too.
Of course, ice has been with us forever in one form or another.
Using ice to cool drinks dates back to the ancient Egyptians, who put ice or snow into their wine or water. The Roman emperor Nero, placed ice around his wine glass to cool it, preferring not to taint his wine. A clever idea.
Moving swiftly through the history of ice. The actual ice cube as we know it, is a fairly modern creation.
In 1844, an American physician and humanitarian, John Gorrie built a refrigerator that was able to make ice cubes. Gorrie would hang the ice cubes in a bowl from the ceiling in order to cool the temperature of a room. So even though he wasn’t out to cool drinks, Gorrie is the creator of ice cubes (handy fact as you enjoy a G&T with friends).
Not to be confused with Ice Cube, American rapper and actor born 15th June 1969. You couldn’t pop him in your G&T.
Four popular ice styles to try at home
Standard Ice Cubes
Standard Ice Cubes:
Standard-sized ice cubes are roughly 1 inch by 1 inch and are the most commonly used type of ice for soft drinks and cocktails. To make them less standard, you could try using bottled or boiled water rather than your usual tap water - it’s worth a go, it’s all about quality when it comes to ice.
Generally, Ice cubes have a large, thick surface area which prevents them from melting too quickly. This makes them ideal for almost all cocktails so you can enjoy a perfectly chilled drink without it losing its original flavour.
A general rule of thumb is if your ice is floating there's too much cocktail and not enough ice, so a bit of trial and error may be required before finding the perfect balance.
Too little ice in your glass will actually mess with your dilution.
Simply by adding more ice cubes to your drinks will improve the chill factor, making the drink more refreshing for longer.
Large Ice Cubes & Shards
Larger Ice Cubes & Shards:
Large ice cubes are typically 2 inches by 2 inches and melt slower than standard ice cubes, as they have less surface to area ratio. Don’t worry about the science, just enjoy your drink.
Large ice cubes work best in spirit-heavy drinks, such as the Old Fashioned, Negroni, and Manhattan.
Big cubes melt slowly and allow you to enjoy the taste of a spirit before it gets watered down. They also look pretty impressive.
Large cube moulds, both square and round, are readily available to try out. Or fill a small re-usable plastic container with water, freeze, and gently chip away at that for some interesting shapes to add to your drink.
Ice Balls
Ice Balls:
The main difference between ice balls and large ice cubes is that the spheres are seen as even more aesthetically pleasing, and often double up as a garnish.
They are said to melt slower than large ice cubes as they have the smallest ratio of surface area to volume, meaning the liquid that surrounds the ball will be chilled, but at the bottom of the glass, the drink will be at a regular temperature.
If you want to chill the drink a little more, ice balls are easier to stir than large ice cubes.
Ideal for straight spirits or cocktails such as an Old Fashioned, or most cocktails in lowball glasses.
Crushed Ice
Crushed Ice:
Crushed ice is a very popular ice type for cocktails such as a Mint Julep, Mojito’s or Frozen Daiquiris.
It adds plenty of texture to the cocktail, makes it ultra-refreshing and dilutes it just enough so the spirits aren't too strong.
Don’t forget a straw though with these. It all adds to the theatre, and stops the ice going up your nose.
There are several ways you can make crushed ice for your cocktails at home.
The easiest method is to place ice cubes on a tea towel, wrap them up and then use a mallet, or heavy object that’s safe to use, to crush them before putting them in a glass and pouring in your favourite drink! Although therapeutic don’t go too crazy with the bashing, it’s hot and you’ve got a drink to enjoy.
The most important consideration with crushed ice is how much water it gives off.
Since it’s made up of a lot of small pieces, crushed ice can get watery very quickly, and that could dilute your drink faster than you want.
Handy Cocktail Ice Do’s and Don’t’s
Here are 7 tips for making the most of your cocktail ice:
Keep the ice in the freezer until you are ready to use it.
Use the specific type of ice called for in the cocktail recipe, if there is one.
Use the highest quality ice you can for mixing and serving cocktails; old or freezer burned ice or ice made from bad water can break a drink while ice made from good quality water can make it.
Try using bottled, distilled, or spring water to make your ice instead of your tap water. See if you notice any difference - which do you prefer?
It’s an idea to put the ice in your glass before pouring in your drink of choice. This will keep it cooler for longer.
Believe it or not, ice does have a shelf life - about two weeks, depending on what else you have in your freezer. So keep refreshing your ice stocks.
Avoid storing ice in the freezer near foods like fish or anything else you don't want to taste in your next Pimms.
Drinks photography
These are just a few icy ideas for your home use. When we photograph ice for drinks and cocktails, it’s a very different story.
There are a few tricks we have up our sleeve to make the shoot go seamlessly, from fake ice and condensation on the glassware, to ever-lasting foam topping.
To find out more about our work, and maybe a few of our sneaky tricks, please contact Abi on 07971 686151
THANK YOU.