During The Heat of Summer – Ice It!

It’s hot. We can lament it all summer long, or we can cool it off with some cool ideas to keep your drinks chilled with zero to little dilution and make them 100% more attractive as well. What am I writing about this time? Sprucing up your big rock ice cubes for cocktails and having a little imagination to keep your wine from warming up.
Let’s start with the big rock ice molds for cocktails. The larger the rock the slower it melts which keeps your drink colder longer, and less diluted. Fill your large mold tray halfway up with distilled water, top with edible dried flowers face down, freeze half the normal time, then top off the mold with more distilled water. If you just drop dried flowers in a mold they will float to the top and freeze, which is only half as pretty. If you just use regular water the cubes will be cloudier.
You can also try filling your ice molds with orange juice – or any juice you like – for mimosas, cherries or sweet cherry juice (diluted with some water) for Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, lemon and lime slices in distilled water for vodka and gin with tonic. I even found tasty lemon stuffed olives I froze on a skewer for Martinis.
Use your imagination. In Spain, Gin and tonic is hugely popular and bartenders there tend to use the same herbs, botanicals, and dried fruit used in the gin as a garnish. I’ve had Spanish strawberry gin with tonic garnished with strawberries; dried juniper berries, dried star anise and even sprigs of rosemary. There is no rule that says you can’t freeze these items into your large cubes – just be aware that not all are eatable.
For wine, try freezing a few red or white grapes. Experiment to see how many look the best in your particular wine glass. Now I haven’t tried other fruits besides grapes but if you are enjoying a wine with a flavor profile that you want more of why not put in frozen apple, pineapple, mango, plum, cherry, blackberry, blueberry, etc., into your wine glass? And when they thaw you got a little snack and can add more if you haven’t yet finished the wine! (Note: this is NOT for your special wines, but for use with an inexpensive white, rose, sparkling or red.)
Spirits to keep cold in the freezer: Due to the high alcohol content, and preference in serving, think about keeping some spirits like tequila, vodka, gin, Cognac, limoncello, rum, Schnapps, Armagnac, and Amaro in your freezer. Never beer or wine as they have too much water and you may have an explosion you don’t want!
Glassware to keep in freezer: Martini or coupe glasses for Martinis, small tasting glasses for your Cognac or Armagnac, and beer mugs.
One glass that will stay cold that you don’t have to keep in your freezer is the Red Solo Cup brand Martini glass. It has even more insulation that the throwaway red cups and is meant for repeated use outdoors. We laughed when we had our first Martini at an outdoor bar in these glasses, but found them to be useful, and fun!
Lastly, these are some liqueurs and wines we keep in refrigerator, especially if opened: Sake, wine, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, Compari, Aperol, Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, elderflower liqueur, sherry/cream sherry, elderflower liqueur, Port, Lillet aperitif wine and other fortified wines.

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in the first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Proof Awards since 2022 (submit via https://proofawards.com) Cellarmasters, LA Wine Competition, Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. Follow on Instagram and Facebook.

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