Ice ball molds for cold drinks

Throwing some cubes of ice in a glass with a shot of scotch or whisky works good initially, but after just a few minutes the ice melts and the drink becomes watered down. I’d heard that in Japan it is common to have bartenders place large “iceballs” rather than standard ice cubes into drinks. These balls melt much slower and the result is you can enjoy the taste of the beverage longer. I had no idea where you could find a set of molds to make these yourself until a couple weeks ago when Kevin Rose showed a set he received from the Museum of Modern Art Store. I had to try these myself so I picked up a set for $16.00 from the MoMA store online.

You get a couple sets of these plastic molds, allowing you to make 4 iceballs at a time. Pretty easy to do, you just fill them with water, throw them in the fridge and in a few hours you have your iceballs.

 The balls are a perfect size for a small drinking glass. After pouring some scotch over one of these iceballs I was able to enjoy the flavor of the scotch for 30-40 minutes without it becoming watered down.

These balls can last for up to a couple hours. Once they become smaller they are not really any different than a regular ice cube and will melt quickly. And they don’t need to be restricted to hard liquor drinks either- great for cooling off iced tea or a soda in a glass. I made a bunch of the iceballs up and keep them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I’m very happy with the results- these are a must have for keeping drinks cold without worrying about them getting all watered down!

© 2010, Bill Gillam. All rights reserved.