Not every drink needs to be served on ice, but some absolutely do – here’s a quick guide.
Ice ice, baby (dun dun dun da-da dun dun). It’s the most important part of a cocktail, the easiest and cheapest way to level up your drink game, and something a lot of folk brush past when serving bevvies at home.
If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll know just how important chill time and dilution are for a cocktail (you can read more about it in our guide here), but what about spirits and friends? To rock or not to rock? That is the question.
Before you go ahead and splash some ice into that 30-year-old Macallan, we’ve written up a little guide for your perusal. But as usual, you do you – we’re not here to yuck anyone’s yum.
It can be as simple as, “I want to put ice in my drink because what the heck”, or it can be as sciencey as “does this drink require the dilution, and will it enhance the flavours or die them down?” We’re the first to admit we’re not scientists (what even is physics?), but we’ll do our best to explain the “science” behind ice vs no ice.
Let’s first talk about aroma. Ever wondered why it’s so hard to sniff out all the flavours in stronger alcohol like whisky, but easier in weaker drinks like wine? Silly stuff, hey? Turns out aroma molecules love alcohol, so if they’re nice and snug in that glass of whisky, they stick together in clusters. When a whisky nerd wants to sniff out those aromas, they’ll splash a touch of dilution in to dissolve those clusters and release the aroma molecules. Ice does the same thing but takes some time (because, you know, melting).
What does this do to the taste? Well, contrary to the “activate the flavour” rumours, it actually can mute the flavour of whisky. For other spirits, however, it can wake up those flavour molecules in a process called retronasal olfaction. In the mouth, the spirit combines with that icy water and is warmed, activating those flavour molecules, which then head straight for the ol’ schnoz. It happens with or without ice but is enhanced by water, as we explained above.
So, which spirits should we be chucking ice into? We hate to side with the purists out there, but avoid putting ice in your single malt Scotch whisky – it’ll just dilute the flavour. The same goes for really top-notch añejo tequila, Calvados and even some rums and bourbons – these should all be sipped neat (general rule of thumb: the better the liquor, the less likely you need ice). Blended whiskies, however, could do with a bit of ice. Same goes for cask-strength bourbons (and other bourbons), and gold and spiced rums.
When it comes to white spirits – if they’re really quite impressive, top-shelf drops like really nice vodka or silver tequila – neat is the way to go. We actually don’t suggest drinking vodka on ice at all (or putting it in the freezer). Really good vodka you want to taste, not-so good vodka you want to mix. Silver tequila, especially those in that mid-range, can handle a bit of ice to awaken some of that hidden green crunchiness.
And maybe you like to sip gin neat (honestly, have you heard of a nice G&T?), but if you’ve got a nice whey gin or something like sloe or flavoured gin that is fruity (like Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin), pour it over ice. Those flavours and aromas will break apart and release all those intriguing botanicals for a better drinking experience.
And there we go. Rock on, rockstars!
