Skip to main content

Get a New Set of Balls Thanks to Wintersmiths and The Macallan’s Ice Ball Maker

ice ball maker
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Depending on how serious you are about your cocktails (and, at least for us here at the Manual, we’re as serious about our cocktails as the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was about the word “Crikey”), you may or may not have ever thought about the ice in your drink beyond, “is there ice in my drink?” After checking out the new ice ball maker that Wintersmiths and The Macallan have teamed up to create, though, we think you’ll start thinking about ice in a whole new way.

Ice balls are important for cocktails for a few reasons. First, the shape helps slow dilution. With square cubes, or many small ice cubes, there is more surface area, leading to faster dilution. Second, a clear ice ball just looks damn pretty. If you’ve got an amazing spirit in your glass, why screw it up with cloudy ice?

The Ice Baller Double works by using your regular tap water and directionally freezing it to remove air bubbles and impurities in the water, leaving you with crystal clear ice balls that are two 2.36” (60mm) in diameter. (Fewer impurities and air bubbles also leads to less of a chance of the ice cracking, which would again lead to more ice surface area which would, as you just learned, lead to faster dilution.)

The entire Ice Baller Double is made from BPA-free plastic, FDA approved food-grade silicone, and EPE foam and measures 7” x 4” x 7”, so clear out those popsicles you bought when you were drunk last summer because Otter Pops sounded like a really good idea and put this in there instead. They were a bad idea then, and they’re still a bad idea now. Clear ice, however, is a wonderful idea.

You can buy the Ice Baller Double on its own for $80 or, the better option (especially if you’re a traveler) is to pick up the Ice Baller Double in an exclusive bundle that also contains a bottle of Macallan Rare Cask Black (48% ABV, non-chill filtered). The special edition package retails for $495 and can be found in key travel retail airport locations throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
The pros and cons of a gluten-free diet, according to an expert
Looking for a gluten free diet list? Read this first
Gluten free cereals corn, rice, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, pasta and flour with scratched text gluten on brown wooden background,overhead horizontal view

Nowadays, everyone is a self-proclaimed nutrition guru. The real question is, who can you truly trust? With so many myths and misconceptions, finding the right path for your personal wellness journey can feel like a corn maze of confusion.

To help you navigate the maze of gluten-related questions, we've turned to an authority on the subject, Dr. Abigail Raffner Basson, RD, LD, a distinguished nutrition instructor at Case Western Reserve University. Together, we'll unravel the mysteries and set the record straight on gluten. There is a lot of information out there when it comes to nutrition, so let's get to the bottom of it.

Read more
MLB star Mookie Betts travels with his own portable kitchen so he can eat healthy no matter where he goes
All-Star MVP candidates gotta eat right, too
Mookie Betts playing baseball

 

Even a short road trip poses challenges to eating well, with tempting drive-through windows and enticing gas station snacks at every turn. Even the most disciplined can be lured by the alluring aroma of fast food. For MLB superstar Mookie Betts, veering off the healthy eating path while traveling isn’t an option.

Read more
This is the only quiche recipe you’ll ever need
Don't settle for soggy crust
A slice of quiche on a white plate

The first time I saw quiche on a menu, I was with my mom and best friend at a particularly posh restaurant in Carmel, California. At 11 years old, I’d never seen the word written down before, and I asked my mom what a “qweechy” was. I’m now nearly 40 and have yet to live that one down. As it turned out, qweechy would become one of my very favorite things to eat. I love how versatile it is, that it’s an acceptable meal any time of the day, how simple it is to make, and most importantly, how delicious it can be, served hot or cold.

This easy quiche recipe is hearty and rich and filling enough to be an entire meal by itself, but we love to serve it with a fresh mixed greens salad. It's also casual enough to serve on a regular Tuesday night, but special enough for holiday gatherings.

Read more