A Cocktail Scientist Debunks Myths About Ice Cubes
Ice Cubes Nattu The cold, hard facts True or false?: Ice cubes get cloudy because of mineral impurities. True or false?: Larger ice cubes melt more slowly than small ones. True or false?: Shaking a martini "bruises the gin." Many of us use ice every day, and soon we start to think we know all there is to know about it. When to shake, when to stir, the difference between one big cube in a drink versus lots of little ones, and so forth. But Kevin Liu, who is one fifth of Science Fare, has published a very fine guide to how we don't know as much as we think we do. Liu's article goes into the practical science of dilution, crystallization, and aeration, and shows you how to make perfectly clear ice, perfectly chilled cocktails, and perfectly irrefutable pronouncements about cocktail technique. Read it at Serious Eats.