![\"cocktails](\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/ice-cube-cocktail-300x258.jpg\")
<\/div>\nSometimes, that offering would simply be a beautiful piece of ice \u2013\u00a0a luxury made all the more precious because people knew it would not last.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever sat in a Japanese cocktail bar<\/a> and watched someone carve an ice gem for your drink, you will know how bewitching really immaculate ice can be. I often think we don\u2019t value ice as an ingredient enough. Without it a cocktail<\/a> is lifeless and flabby \u2013\u00a0it simply isn\u2019t worth it.<\/p>\n A well-iced drink tastes electric; it\u2019s more exciting to touch. It even sounds <\/em>better \u2013\u00a0just think of the rattle of a shaker, or the mouthwatering clink of a G&T.<\/p>\n Before the birth of the commercial ice trade in the early 1800s, portable ice was a rare treat \u2013\u00a0aristocrats on the continent would have it brought down from the snow-capped mountains by donkey. It was the American entrepreneur Frederic Tudor who had the bright idea of harvesting ice from the frozen lakes of north America<\/a> and shipping it to bars from New Orleans<\/a> and Havana to Calcutta.<\/p>\n When, in 1845, a block of pristine New England ice went on display in a shop on The Strand in London, it drew a crowd. \u2018The Londoners look upon it in amazement,\u2019 wrote New Englander Henry Colman in European Life and Manners<\/em> (1849). \u2018I am told they sometimes go into the shop after gazing through the window, and put their hands on it, to be sure that it is not glass.\u2019<\/p>\n Brits were (and, to my shame as a British drinks writer, still are) rather reluctant to actually add ice to their drinks. But Americans embraced it, to the extent that cocktails made with ice became one of the distinguishing features of a so-called \u2018American Bar\u2019.<\/p>\n One epicure who was most impressed by American ice culture was Charles Dickens. \u2018Hark!\u2019 he wrote in his 1842 travelogue American Notes<\/em>, after a visit to a bar, \u2018to the clinking sound of hammers breaking lumps of ice, and to the cool gurgling of the pounded bits, as, in the process of mixing, they are poured from glass to glass.\u2019<\/p>\n By the 1950s, domestic ice makers had started taking off in the States, resulting in drinks like the Gibson on the Rocks becoming trendy. These days, of course, getting ice is easy \u2013 we don\u2019t have to wait for a big freeze.\u00a0But even so, the cold stuff continues to mesmerize.<\/p>\n Making crystal-clear ice from scratch is laborious. But it\u2019s possible with a good bit of kit. The Klaris Clear Ice Maker<\/a> will do four 2\u201dx2\u201d cubes every 8-12 hours and is compact enough to fit on a kitchen countertop. The Ice Book<\/em><\/a> by Camper English \u2013\u00a0an authority on all things sub-zero \u2013\u00a0is also full of inspo if you want to get more creative.<\/p>\n My tip, though, would be simply to order in some beautiful ice from a specialist. Ice Modern<\/a> and Hundredweight<\/a> are two stateside craft ice companies that will deliver to your door.<\/p>\n One of the most delightful drinks-related presents I\u2019ve ever received was a selection box of specialty ice \u2013\u00a0perfect cubes, spheres, oblongs and gems, some clear, some coloured, others frozen with gold leaf or rose buds inside.<\/p>\n![\"ice](\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/ice-in-cocktails.jpg\")
![\"funky](\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/funky-ice-cocktail.jpg\")