I’m hosting a cocktail party this week, and I’m determined that this time I’m going to practice what I preach. While I have a fine selection of spirits and I love using them to mix interesting and unexpected drinks, there’s one rule I always fall foul of and I imagine you do too. So let’s talk about the most overlooked but essential ingredient for a successful cocktail party: plenty of ice.
My rule is that however much ice I think I’m going to need, I’m always going to need more than that. Between using ice for shaking or stirring cocktails, then adding fresh ice to glasses for serving those drinks, ice gets used up at an astonishing rate for even a small group of people. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to get guests to reuse their ice cubes from one drink to the next, or tried to shake a cocktail with just a single measly ice cube because I’ve run out and the freezer is sadly empty. And ice is not something that you can lay your hands on quickly, as even if you refill an ice tray it will still take over an hour to freeze properly.
There is of course always the option to grab a bag of ice from the store. But I hate store bought ice or ice from a fridge door machine, because I find it is always full of off-flavors that infiltrate the drinks, adding an unpleasant plastic note to cocktails with are otherwise lovingly crafted.
And the solution is so simple. All it takes is some foresight to start making ice ahead of time, as once ice is ready you can empty it from the tray into a sealed tupperware box in the freezer and keep making more batches — even if you only have one ice tray or limited freezer space. Ideally I like to have smaller ice cubes for shaking with, at around 1″ across, as well as larger ice cubes for serving drinks over, at around 2″ across. Either size will work for either function in a pinch, but it’s nice to have both available when possible.
If emergency does strike, there are drinks that you can serve without ice. Prosecco-based cocktails, for example, don’t usually contain ice as they are served in a Champagne flute and more chilling isn’t necessary as long as you have kept your sparkling wine in the fridge. Or at a certain point in the evening, people are usually quite happy to be drinking shots or to switch to beer, wine, or a non-alcoholic soda option.
But for a home cocktail enthusiast, it is such a shame to not be able to make the drinks you want to for lack of such a simple thing as ice. So for the next few days I’m going to be making multiple batches of ice, and next time you host I suggest that you do too — and we can hope that all of our cocktails will be sufficiently diluted and chilled.
