The bartender at Berlin’s Hotel Stue served the White Negroni with a large ice ball in the glass. It only took one try to be convinced of the benefits of the large round ice cube.

The large ice cube in the glass is not only visually a greater pleasure: an ice ball or a large ice square dissolves more slowly compared to smaller ice cubes. The drink thus remains perfectly chilled and less diluted for a longer time.

Big in Japan

In the classic bars of Japan, people would smile mildly at such beginner enthusiasm that a large ice cube can trigger.

There, the large ice cube in the matching cocktails is not only standard but a small aesthetic work of art:

The bartender uses small ice picks and great skill to beat a solid piece of ice into a ball of ice whose surface resembles the cut of a diamond.

As with many things, Japan’s aesthetics and sophistication are second to none.

Some bartenders make a point of ensuring that the water for the ice in the glass later comes from a specific source.

The bartender’s small tools, with which he creates a small work of ice art from a block of ice in a flash, are made of fine wood and steel, so that the sight of them makes you think of the pragmatic ice cube trays in the freezer at home.

A small investment for great pleasure

You can find molds for large ice cubes for small money at hardware stores and, of course, online. The resulting ice balls and ice squares don’t have the same magic, but they bring coolness to your glass in a simple way.

Add it to a White Negroni, a glass of rosé or, along with a few slices of natural lemon, a Spanish-inspired glass of beer.

GloriousMe prefers Scotch whisky without ice. But if you like to fill your whiskey tumbler with ice, it should be a large square cube so as not to dilute the precious whiskey too quickly.

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Simply decadent

Ice cubes in champagne? Some of the big Champagne houses think yes, arguing that if a Champagne has a high dosage (doux – over 50 grams of sugar per liter), adding an ice cube will reduce the sweetness in the glass and achieve a good balance.

This does not make sense to us. Our glass of champagne is empty faster than the ice cube can melt. In addition, we love just the dry champagne with a small addition of sugar solution such as Brut or Extra Brut.

From our point of view, the better choice, especially since a high dosage in champagne can serve to cover up errors in champagne production.

Here the little ones make it big

However, you do not have to recycle your ice machine at all after reading this article.

Small ice cubes are ideal for some uses: there is no sound more auspicious than the gentle clink of ice cubes in an elegant silver champagne cooler at sunset.

And if it turned out to be a very long night, reaching into the freezer the next morning will help. Small ice cubes are a good way to massage the temples to quickly get fit again for the next video conference in the home office.