Putting aside for now, the fact that making crystal clear ice requires specially filtered water that is very carefully and slowly frozen with fancy equipment.
The real question is why does anyone think this is what they need in life. They only people I have seen that insist on such things are whisk(e)y snobs that drink their whisk(e)y on the rocks. They claim that cloudy ice has impurities in it that affects the flavor of the drink.
While technically they are maybe correct, my reply is-- “Shut up and drink your whisk(e)y neat like God and the Irish meant it to be consumed. The water is already in it.”
Noe that the water can just be tap, and the equipment isn’t super fancy. If the water looks clear, you can make clear ice from it.
It’s called directional freezing, you stick water in freezer insulated on all sides so that it freezes from the top down instead of outside in.
If you have larger ice, you’ll see the white stuff is in the middle, the last area to freeze. Directional freezing causes that to be at an end instead of in the center, and you either pull out the ice before the end freezes, ideally, or cut off the end.
I have an ice mold that doess this and it provides break off points to break the clear ice off the unclear ice.
It does take a while though and the bulky insulation takes a lot of room in the freezer.
You need proper water to start. The high iron and calcium laden water that comes out of my well won’t ever make clear ice without some serious filtration. And the proper freezing it is a slow process that takes extra time and effort.
Personally, I can’t be bothered. My cloudy ice cools my iced tea just fine without any extra effort.
I love this comment. On one hand I don’t hate the idea that this exists and it’s an obscure aesthetic thing. If someone wants to make super fancy cocktails then fine, whatever. On the other hand,
“Shut up and drink your whisk(e)y neat like God and the Irish meant it to be consumed. The water is already in it.”
Love it
I was being a bit tongue in cheek there. After all, it’s your whisk(e)y and not mine. So have it as you want it. But just don’t be a snob about it. It’s just the Water of Life.
I don’t know, I’ve also heard that a few drops of water “opens up” the whiskey. My dad was an alcoholic who loved whiskey. He would order it with a few drops of water. Ice would do the same thing.
I was recently in a pub which had water bottles from the different regions of Scotland, so you could add drops of the same water it was made from.
Also, a pipette to exactly measure the amount of water added. It was excellent.
That would be completely wasted on me, but very cool.
Yes, a few drops, and I mean drops, of water can change the flavors of the whisk(e)y. It really doesn’t matter to me. Depending on the water you might use can matter also. “Branch water” is historically the water used by bourbon drinkers. Branch water refers to using the same water that was used to make the bourbon to add to your glass. I have no idea if it matters or not. But that’s folktale.
Adding ice can do the same thing along with dulling flavors due to the chilling of the bourbon, except melting ice is not under control. It goes from perfect to just a bad glass of water as it melts over time.
Not such fancy equipment. I used to make it in a lunchbox cooler with our very hard tap water; that eventually cracked but I have been rocking one of these for a decade now.
https://www.clearlyfrozen.com/
All you need is directional freezing. My ice comes out crystal clear in big ol’ blocks like that.
To be fair - I would charge $5 a tray too. It takes a day & a half and space in my freezer. But it is an easy, cheap, and fun hobby
You don’t need specialized equipment. It’s easy enough to be done at home.
You just need tap water, a plastic insulated lunchbox and a timer.
Now do it at a commercial scale.
Why? I only want 4 cubes.
Because doing things a scale every day makes it way harder than your 4 cubes. I while I would never buy their ice cubes, I can see why they charge the ridiculous price they do.
definitely just for astethic reasons
The real question is why does anyone think this is what they need in life.
Sometimes you want to entertain and square ice cubes are a nice touch
I got square ice cubes if I want them. They might not be as pretty as these clear cubes, but they do the same thing, cool and dilute whatever you are drinking.
The argument can be made, (and I wouldn’t fight you too hard on it), that I’m an uncouth barbarian, and I will never understand. But I just don’t think it’s something people really need, and they can easily live without.
Well it looks nice too so if you host a party I get it
Right‽
That’s interesting. I popped into this thread to help figure out why some of my ice was extra clear.
I think this batch froze slowly. Thanks
Ha. It says “keep frozen.”
Why don’t they just put these things into the ocean and solve global warming?
ONCE AND FOR ALL!!
Bad news, everybody!
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Sometime ago I went to a friend’s house and they had that exact product, but it was a pre-melted version. Saves a lot of time. We used it to make all kinds of drinks.
I buy mine dehydrated to save on shipping, just add water.
Also if you buy it in bulk (no packaging) shipping is free.
He shops at Aldi
He buys $5 ice.
Who is this person? Is he the same guy spending thousands on a free game?
Here in Europe you’d see expensive SUVs, like Porsches and Range Rovers, parked outside the Aldi all the time. Lot’s of rich people are penny pinchers especially old money who inherited their money. They would probably buy these ice cubes if they have to impress their friends with their Japanese whiskey that they only drink when guests are at their home.
Block ice can cost that. But it also lasts 10 days in the right cooler.
This is an impulse buy
Frozen water… 🤔
I wouldn’t be surprised if this made a real debut
This is the name of a place in the Netherlands, I tried to Google these cubes but no luck, I’m very curious.
Ecosia seems to have done better: this appears to be a bit from “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, a Netflix show.
Duckduckgo also managed to find it quick
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It is also the place Brooklyn is named after
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What the fuck… My co worker put a video of this… On snap like 11 hours ago from Aldi’s. Like, this could be a screen grab of it.
They’re 4 square cubes of clear ice and Aldi wants like $5 for them.
These work so much better than the unfrozen ice cubes they sold last week.
Bro, I’ll mail you 4 for $4. You just freeze it again once it shows up. HMU if interested.
Do you provide the square mold for refreezing, or do I need to purchase that separately?
*Mold sold separately
if i saw these i’d leave them in the bread section
Ah, yes frozen ice
People here acting like they’ve never bought something stupid and useless.
Square ice cubes made with clarified water are a real pain to make at home unless you have all the tools
If you like to entertain, it’s much easier to just buy the cubes and store them in the fridge.
“Clarified water”?!?!
Ok. I know Canada has great water supply, but where do you live that your water needs to be " clarified"?
Filtered, whatever.
Hard water isn’t great for fancy ice cubes
I mean, when we had hard water we just put it through a tap mounted filter. Not sure why anyone needs water to be clearer than that.
I’m firmly in the camp that if you’re so concerned with appearances that you need to buy special ice cubes for a party, you need to reassess priorities.
It’s $5 for a dozen cubes to put into a glass that cost $20 full of booze that cost $200.
If you want crystal clear ice cubes!
For that price I can get a giant bag at the supermarket… And with just a little patience I can freeze my own.
I must be stupid or something but if they were ice cubes wouldn’t they melt before you get home
When you buy Popsicles, do they melt before they get home?
Imagine all the AI prompts you could buy for $5!
Wait until the find out about refrigerators
Guess you’ve never bought a bag of ice before 🫠😵💩👎
Except 300g of ice is easy to make at home. You buy bags of ice because that’s more ice than your freezer can make in a day
Valid point
That’s a hell of a lot different than buying a box of 4 cubes.
