The Best Luxury Gourmet Artisanal Ice Right Now

Looking for a micro-luxury? A wonderful and delicious experience that won’t break your budget? One word, dear reader: ice. Gourmet artisanal ice is a luxury that many whisky and spirits drinkers swear by. But which of the gourmet brands is the best? Our correspondent Abbie Martin Greenbaum has compiled a list of the best luxury gourmet artisanal ice brands on the market right now, and how and where to experience them.

The Best Luxury Gourmet Artisanal Ice Right Now

In the world of fine food and drink, gourmet artisanal brands are transforming even the most mundane items into highly valued luxury goods. From marshmallows to salt to honey and many things in between, there’s a luxury version of almost everything imaginable now. We kept reading about fancy artisanal ice, so we decided to investigate.

what makes ice into a luxury good?

Welcome to the world of artisanal ice. As cocktail culture has exploded in recent years, you will find more establishments than ever offering up crystalline ice shapes in favor of your at-home cloudy cubes.

Not only is artisanal ice a definite aesthetic enhancement, but it also melts more slowly, changing the way the water dilutes a drink.

It turns out that for those who love to host parties at home, or just indulge in a fine whisky from time to time, having the right ice is essential to the experience.

the Best Luxury Gourmet Artisanal Ice and how to experience it

So what is artisanal ice? How is it made, and where are some of the places you can find it? Here is a profile of ten brands and establishments that are serving, making and showcasing artisanal ice today – read on to see what makes these crystal clear cubes so cool.

1. Find a bar with a Clinebell

Any conversation about artisanal ice has to include The Clinebell. Before the art of translucent, customizable ice was popularized and adapted, using a Clinebell was the way most restaurants would achieve a visually impactful look with their ice cubes.

These machines work by freezing ice in enormous, see-through blocks. The process involves chilling the water from the bottom up, as opposed to the top down. This is ice that is at the level of art, the kind that sculptors would use. And bringing it to the bar was one of the first ways that serious cocktail establishments found to put a little bit of artistic flair right into your glass.

2. Find a bar using Hundredweight Ice

Eateries without their own machinery must find a way to import luxury ice from the outside. There are now artisanal ice suppliers all around the world, and Hundredweight Ice is one of the best.

Founded in 2011, Richard Boccato and Ian Present provide artisanal ice to many of New York’s finest restaurants and bars, including Attaboy and Death & Co.  Their ice creations include highball spears, two-inch cubes, five by tens, and ten-inch blocks. They are big believers in the art of the cocktail, and the significance of a quality piece of ice as the first step in an enjoyable drinking experience.

3. Find a bar using Minnesota Pure & Clear Artisan Ice

Minnesota Pure & Clear Artisan Ice is one of the largest suppliers of artisanal ice in the Midwest. Their ice is top notch, crystal clear, and dense enough to break teeth if someone makes the mistake of biting straight into it.

In addition to the rock (a two inch square), the shard (ice cut to look like a gem stone), the cylinder, and the rod (perfect for a Tom Collins), they can also make custom ice designs, cutting their ice into whatever shape best suits your needs. Think letters, snowflakes and more.

4. Find a bar using Mixology Ice

Mixology Ice ships to South Florida and New York, offering spheres and cubes, crushed ice, and even infused ice – ice that has flowers, fruit or greenery frozen inside for maximum visual effect.

The company uses industrially filtered water, harvesting and transforming enormous blocks of pristine ice daily. They are tech-focused, using only automated machinery to create ice that is as smooth and clear as imaginable.

5. Purchase a new LG InstaView Refrigerator for your home

Now that artisanal ice has become so popular, there are many other ways of achieving that crystal clear effect – including in your own home. If you are someone who entertains a lot and wants to be able to produce a perfectly translucent ice cube yourself, this is the way to do it.

LG’s new InstaView Door-in-Door fridge has a dual ice-maker that can create crushed, cubed and slow-to-melt round ice balls. A fridge like this will definitely revolutionize your ability to entertain, allowing you to make five-star cocktails in your own home. Fridge models range in price from $2,300 to $6,500.

6. Buy single-use packages of Quari Handcrafted Ice

If you don’t own a restaurant, a bar, or the new LG refrigerator, but you are still interested in acquiring artisanal ice for a party you are hosting, Quari Handcrafted Ice is here to help.

Located in Chicago, their handcrafted ice is available in home-use packages throughout the city. The ice is made with the purest water and is one hundred percent clear. It will take between two and three hours to melt, ensuring maximum taste in all that you drink.

3. Visit Stir, Raleigh, North Carolina

There are now many bars that serve artisanal ice, if you would like to try some for yourself. And this spot in Raleigh, North Carolina is one of the best.

Stir has taken artisanal ice to heart, hand-cutting these magical cubes for each individual cocktail so that every drink is the perfect drink. They view bar-tending as an art, and ice as the center of the creativity goes into each cup.

8. Visit Bar High Five, Tokyo

While artisanal ice has now pervaded the bar scene in the United States, it was really started in Japan. Head to the legendary Bar High Five in Tokyo for some of the best cocktails you will ever have in your entire life.

Bar High Five has been featured in multiple news segments about the importance of ice in their famous drinks, and you can watch online to see how they carve their signature ice diamond. If you are interested in going somewhere that has really harnessed the power of artisanal ice, this should be your first stop.

9. Decorate with Disco Cubes

Ice is not just for cocktails, of course. Having recognized the aesthetic beauty in a crystal cube, many are now turning it into art.  Leslie Kirchhoff is an artist in Los Angeles, and in 2018 she founded Disco Cubes.

 There, she turns ice into colorful frozen sculptures. Her incredible creations have been featured in many magazines and by many companies, including Girlboss, Vogue and Nars. Her floating cubes – many of which hold an object or garnish inside of them – are available for purchase, including custom designs. She has a book all about ice, due in 2020 from Chronicle Books.

10. Join the Glace Luxury Ice Club

Glace Luxury Ice offers packages of artisanal ice for $325, available to ship to wherever you are. And if you just cannot get enough, they have a quarterly ice club, where once a season members receive ten pouches of fifty perfect pieces. Anyone who strives to be a connoisseur of the best spirits will want to join in on this experience.

The Best Luxury Gourmet Artisanal Ice Right Now

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