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While I was on a business trip to LA, I ended the evening at a restaurant and bar in the Sheraton Grand Hotel called District. They had an amazing cocktail program going, including a solid clear ice program with all of the ice produced in-house. Here are some other ice program photos: I highly recommend you check it out if you are in LA. They really care about what they are doing there. The cocktail smoking program is also on point as well!
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One of the makers in the directory, Chisel & Shaker, were featured in an online article at Distinction. In there, they ask the question, is ice just another pretty face?  Matt Jones answers: "“You go into a nice place and get a $10 drink where everything is perfect, so why wouldn’t you pay attention to your ice?"
Indeed Matt! Read more  Food and Beverage Magazine is reporting that Clinebell has just become a third generation family owned business. Since the 1960s, they've been creating the equipment that builds the clear ice that we all know and love. Join me in congratulating them for this awesome accomplishment.
Last Friday, I had an opportunity to entertain a bunch of folks at a dinner party by preparing and serving clear ice, and facilitating a tequila tasting. It was the first time I've ever had a "paid gig" sharing clear ice in someone else's home. I've done other events via charity auctions, but never an actual paid opportunity! It was a ton of fun and everyone was amazed! The word-of-mouth network is working! I'm sure there will be more in the future! A while back, I linked to some information about a clear ice making machine from CBFI. Since then, I've gotten into contact with them. First because I was interested in getting one to put in my living room... but mainly just because I'm super interested in all the ways that clear ice is starting to find it's way to consumers and retailers. NOTE: I'm not getting paid or compensated for this post. I just think it's really cool, so I emailed them and asked for more information and some photos I could share on the site. They were super nice and sent a few things over that I'm featuring here. CBFI has a cube machine, but they are putting a lot of effort into an ice ball machine that just prints these suckers out at high speed. They are offering up an entire process.  Feed your milled blocks into the Ice Sphere Machine and out the other side comes perfectly round ice shaped the same size. Print your ice... package... ship! This is obviously an industrial process, but if you head over to the Makers page, there is an ever growing number of ice makers all over the world that I assume will want to get in on something like this. Here are a few more pictures with some sizzle: If industrial ice is your game, you can contact them directly at:
CBFI (Customer Benefit From Ice Source.) Guangzhou Ice Source CO, LTD. Email: season@icemakerchina.com. Mob/Whatsapp: 0086-13427205323 Web: www.icesourcegroup.com
Wow... the music fits too.
In my continuing and far ranging search for clear ice producers, I stumbled across the International Packaged Ice Association. Their missions is to: ...promote the growth and superior business practices for the packaged ice industry through the ongoing development and management of standards and value added services that enhance the image of the industry to the consumers and trade-partners. IPIA will achieve these objectives through proactive leadership directed by priorities set by its member companies. Check out their site for more... What I'm interested in, is a list of all the international members in the association which you can access through a searchable map:  I'm going to be digging in to everyone on the list to see if I can find more companies to add to the Maker Directory!
 I came across an article on punchdrink.com that asks the question so many of us started with: Does clear ice really matter? Well of course it does. :) “It’s a huge aesthetic difference that can’t be discounted,” argues [Camper] English. “Styrofoam cup versus crystal glassware. It makes for a completely different experience.” Read more to learn about the different views.
The article features quotes from a few makers in the directory:
For my birthday, friends of mine got me a copy of the legendary and award winning Aviary Cocktail Book. As I was paging through, I was super excited to see a whole section (rightly) dedicated to their ice program! Here are a couple of photos about what they cover. It's not a cheap book, but if you are into this stuff, it is a gorgeous coffee table resident. You can get it on Amazon.
I found myself with another break in the action and a fridge that was empty. I keep a special freezer in my shed with clear ice blocks, so I pulled one out, cut it in half, and went to work. Half a block creates three freezer bags full of usable cubes. Here is where I keep the uncut blocks in my shed. It stores four blocks. Two full size and two half size. I've been using quite a bit of ice lately, so I'm down to two full size blocks.  |
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ClearIce.Life is maintained by Trapper Markelz in pursuit of elevated cocktail experiences at home, and with friends.
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April 2019
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