Psychosis on the Rocks

I have a bar staff of about five people, and they're the most flexible and versatile bartenders I know. The reason is that while many bar bloggers work in their home kitchens and subject their spouses and adolescent children to their cocktail revelations, I have an entire city upon which to subject them. And I do, gleefully, with the help of the bartenders.

Although Red Feather has been obsessed with ice for several years, my most recent departure from reality has involved the systemization of freezing, storing, and using about 6 different kinds of ice (stay with me here...)

Because I'm completely psychotic, I feel that every single type of ice we use is perfect for its application, and none are expendable.

In the old days (last year,) we would buy huge blocks of mineral ice and crack it with a hammer and chisel. This, not surprisingly, was around the time the entire bar staff turned (save for the golden boy, Mark Allen.) Over the last several months, and with the help of my friend/person whom I stalk, Sasha Pertraske, I have discovered better ways of producing and keeping all of this crazy ice. Modified silicon ice trays, this little tool, and the 50 cubic feet of freezer space behind my bar have made the following possible:

Big Ice is cracked from small blocks to fit our shakers and is used to chill shaken drinks without turning them to slush or diluting them too much. Big ice is not for every drink, and is not for every spirit. Cocktails with eggs in them and classic juiceless whiskey drinks, (if you must shake them,) benefit most from the use of big ice.

Cubed Ice differs from machined ice in that, although it is small, it is not hollow. We use this cubed ice for drinks served in shorter, old fashioned style glasses.

Tall Ice is used, well, for tall glasses. We freeze these to fit the glass so that the ice touches the bottom of the glass, and rises above the surface of the drink. This helps to reduce dilution and keep the drink colder and full-flavored longer. It also quiets the little voices in my head...

While I admit to being completely obsessive over this matter, I am not alone. There are a couple of ice machine manufacturers making ice that is solid and dilution-conscious. Kold-draft, for example, was out of business until about last year, when they started producing cocktail-grade ice making systems again.

Although the choice of ice is often determined by the reaction of the drink's components to chilling, it is often a stylistic choice. For example, the Caipirinha can be served in a tall glass with tall ice, or in a short glass with cubes. The choice is completely stylistic in this case, and I would probably choose the short glass because it just seems more fitting for the drink. I should also point out that machined ice is completely acceptable for many applications. We still make about 11,000 mojitos every night at Red Feather, and all that lime juice tastes great shaken up with slushy, hollow ice. The same is true for a standard highball cocktail... a rum & coke with tall ice is just... silly.