Large pieces of ice tend to melt more slowly when submerged in liquid; especially under normal temperature conditions. In other words, if you want to delay the effects of dilution in your spirit or soft drink, invest in a bigger ice cube rack.
The plastic ice rack that came with your fridge probably makes smallish ice cubes. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to find large silicone replacements that won’t take up too much room in your refrigerator. In addition to making your scotch look manlier, larger ice cubes also take longer to melt.
Now, before some smartass mentions it in the comments, we’re fully aware that the chilling power of ice mostly comes from the dilution process (aka enthalpy of fusion). However, a stack of iceberg-sized chunks will still help to keep your drink cool without flooding it with extra water.
Plus, smaller ice cubes tend to congregate at the drink’s surface, which can lead to a sharp increase in surface water. They also allow you to fit more liquid in the glass, which is bad news if you’re trying to cut down on sugary soft drinks.
So in conclusion, while large ice cubes won’t keep your drink as icy-cold to begin with, it will taste a lot better and continue to clink pleasantly. Hurrah!
Comments
5 responses to “Reduce Drink Dilution With Big-Arsed Ice Cubes”
Ice in scotch? Shameful
There is no single correct way to enjoy scotch. Everyone has different tastes and should be free to enjoy scotch how they like. Let’s not be judgmental, but open to the opinions of others.
Silicone moulds are a pain to empty. You have to push each cube out individually. If you are happy to do that, fine. I prefer the stiff plastic moulds which you can twist and get most of the cubes to fall out in one go. Admittedly the cubes are not as big.
Yeah, the reason I suggested silicone is because they produce bigger cubes.
I got some big silicone cubes the other day and tried them out. Damn, awesome change! The drink isn’t super-cold anymore, not diluted, and it doesn’t freeze my lips/teeth when I sip!
10/10 would buy and make big-ass-cube-ice again.