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How to make DIY flavoured ice your new thing

Read time 5 Mins

Posted 01 Feb 2024

By
Alexandra Whiting

From the feed to your freezer, this is the right way to hop on this trend for tastier iced drinks.

We won’t lie, ice has been an obsession of ours for some time. But if you care about your cocktails, you know there’s no more essential ingredient than “cold”. If you’re not convinced, try a room-temp Martini! When it comes to ice, there’s the stuff you use for shaking your drink, and then there’s the ice you plop into the finished cocktail. Not only must there be ice, but there must be the right ice, not some back-of-the-fridge, frost-burnt cubes with random frozen peas stuck to them. 

With the quality of your ice elevated, there’s room to get a little creative and spice up your ice, if you will. Something that TikTok and Pinterest have been pushing to the limits of imagination (yoghurt cubes in your Vodka Soda, anyone?). Creativity is one part of it, but there’s also a practical element. By adding additional ingredients to your cooler, you’ll find your drink gets a little more interesting. The aroma, tastes and flavours locked in your cubes (or spheres) are released in stages, transforming your drink between the first sip and last. Drink transformers are something we can get around. Talk about upping your hosting game for 2024. Ahead, we have seven of the best ice cube hacks to give your drinks that little extra something.

1. The frozen mixerNot to blow your mind, but ice doesn’t have to be just water. Getting your mixers in on the action and, say, adding frozen cubes of grapefruit juice to your vodka tonic allows for a gradual drink transformation. You start off with one set of flavours and end with another! Frozen grenadine syrup in a tequila and orange juice gives you a sort of slow-release Tequila Sunrise. Frozen lemon or lime juice cubes? What could you not use them for?! The ice cube tray is your oyster – just don’t try to freeze spirits with a proof higher than 50% because they simply won’t freeze. Everything else is fair game.
Ice cubes with olives frozen inside are ideal for Dirty Martinis
2. The Martini hackBig with European hosts, creatives, TikTokkers and anyone really leaning into it last festive season (we all feel a little crafty at Christmas), Dirty Martini ice really makes your Martini shine. There’s extra flavour, extra flair and, most importantly, extra chill (particularly great if you tend to sit on your ‘tinis). To make, simply pour 3/4 olive brine, 1/4 water and a whole Sicilian olive in each XL ice cube mould. Once frozen, add it to your glass and pour your Martini over. People have been taking this a step further and stuffing their olives before adding it to the ice. Cheese Gal (literally @chzgal on Tiktok) swears by her blue-cheese stuffed olive recipe. All we’ll say is it would definitely make it extra dirty. 
3. The coffee momentFrozen espresso cubes are so versatile. If you’re making Espresso Martinis for a group, it means you can skip the shot pouring. And if you fancy an iced coffee, you’re halfway there. But our favourite way to use an espresso ice cube is in a nightcap-style drink like a Baileys or White Russian. As the coffee melts, the flavour will transform to give a bit more kick. As you want these cubes to melt faster, use smaller cubes.
4. The spice of Margarita lifeMargs are just better spicy, and there’s a lot of ways to make them that way. There’s the chilli flakes in the salt rim, chilli slices in the drink or muddled jalapeños in your shaker (very hot), but our favourite way, and perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing, is a whole chilli frozen in an ice cube. You’ll need your XL ice cube tray and a smaller chilli variety like bird’s eye. Put the cube in the middle of your glass, pour over your Margarita and enjoy it getting hotter (but not warmer) the longer you sip it.
Ice cubes with a whole bird's eye chilli frozen in each one
5. The snow globeLove gin, but can’t be faffed with all the herbs and fruit accoutrement everytime you shake a drink? Snow globe ice is for you. We’ve named it so because the final product does kind of look like a snowglobe (particularly if you manage to get the blueberries suspended mid-ice), and when you freeze ice in a sphere, it creates a nice frosty star-pattern that kinda looks like snow. To make snow globe ice, all you need are spherical moulds, water and whatever flavourings take your fancy. Try anything and everything you’d like to give your G&T or G&S a little flavour: herbs, berries, citrus fruit slices… add them all to a larger, round mould, top with water and expect impressed faces next time you host after-work drinks. To get you started, try pomegranates, rosemary and cranberries. Divine.
Orange slices frozen in ice cubes
6. The Spritz fixOrange slices are essential to a Spritz, be it Aperol, Campari or another type of Spritz altogether (there are also some very good zero% versions). To give them a little extra oomph, try freezing your orange slices so they triple as flavour, cooler and sexy garnish on your next Spritz round. Oranges are something that go in and out of season, and up and down in price, so on a practical level, we love that this is a way to maximise on a good, cheap bag. 
7. The wine coolerWhether you’re pro or anti ice cubes in wine, this is a tip to save. For the hottest of days and parties, double down on your wine of choice with ice cubes of the same varietal. In practice, this means grabbing two bottles of, say, rosé, pouring one into ice cube trays, with the optional addition of some fruit slices. Then when it comes to serving, add the frozen rosé cubes to your glass and top with the liquid rosé and you will find your drink stays cool for much longer, lasts for longer, and, if you’ve also added fruit, becomes a bit sangria-esque towards the end. All without watering it down one bit. You could also chuck them in with soda and a spirit for a wine spritzer, or add them to a punch.
Shop related products
Bar StationPlatinum Ice Sphere
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Member Offer
$15 for 2 bottlesNon-Member: $12.05 each
 
Bar StationLarge Ice Cube Tray
Large Ice Cube Tray
$6.69 each
 
Bar StationExtra Large Ice Cube Tray
Extra Large Ice Cube Tray
Member Offer
$10 for 2 bottlesNon-Member: $7.55 each
 
image credits: Charlie Hawks (photography), Bridget Wald (styling).
Authour image
Alexandra WhitingWriter, mum and afternoon spritz enthusiast. Thinks most gatherings should be celebrated with Champagne.
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LearnSpiritsCocktailsEntertainingDIY How toCocktail making
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