Booze Up Your Ice
By Chilled Magazine
Cubes and Cones Get Some ABV
There are a lot of perks to childhood. Summer vacation. Trick or treating. Popsicles. Sure, as adults, we usually can wing a summer vacation, but not the entire summer like the kiddos. And, when it comes to trick or treating, there is a point when the novelty of going from door to door nabbing candy just seems, well, childish. But popsicles? These icy, flavored treats make the transition to adulthood seamlessly. Add a bit of booze to the mix and suddenly that kiddie pop – now in the form of a cocktail ice cube or spirit-heavy snow cone — is very grown up indeed.
Each of these drinks delivers a different flavor profile and sensory experience. Two are snow cones – one an ode to a Manhattan, the other a lighter play with vodka – and the others use ice cubes to melt into the drinks adding another layer of flavor. Try these first and then experiment by deconstructing your favorite cocktails. Any way you freeze them, these chilly cocktail incarnations will make you glad you left your school days behind.
Manhattan Snow Cone
Courtesy of Barton G, Miami & Los Angeles
Serves: 4 heaping 3 oz. servings
Ingredients:
- 6 oz. Simple syrup
- 4 oz. Whiskey
- 2 oz. Butter
- 1 oz. Sweet vermouth
- 1 oz. Dry vermouth
- Dash of Angostura bitters
- Fresh cherries, for garnish
Preparation: In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the simple syrup stirring frequently, until the syrup has the color and texture of caramel, about 12 minutes. Add the whiskey and butter, and whisk until incorporated. Cool slightly and transfer the sweet whiskey sauce to a squeeze bottle. Set aside.
Combine the vermouths, bitters, and a 1/4 cup water. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze until frozen, about 2 hours. When frozen, place the ice cubes into a snow cone machine (there are non-commercial ones available) and shave the ice into paper cones or shot glasses. Drizzle with the sweet whiskey sauce and garnish with a cherry.
Bay Street with IPA Beer Cube
Courtesy of TWO, Chicago
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Templeton Rye whiskey
- 1/4 oz. Bitter Truth EXR herbal liquor
- 1/2 oz. Maya IPA beer simple syrup (see below)
- Belgian IPA beer ice cube (see below)
Preparation: Stir together first three ingredients until sufficiently chilled and diluted. Strain into coupe glass over Belgian IPA ice cube.
Maya IPA Beer Syrup
Ingredients:
- 1 part Une Année’s Maya, Belgian IPA
- 1 part Granulated sugar
Preparation: Using two containers pour back and forth, until sugar is dissolved and carbonation is dissipated.
Belgian IPA Beer Cube
Ingredients:
- 40% IPA simple syrup
- 60% water
- 3 dashes of Regan’s no. 6 orange bitters per 500 ml.
- Round slice of orange peel
Preparation: Mix syrup, water, and bitters together. Pour into ice cube molds. Place a slice of orange peel half in the cube. Place in freezer until solid.
Buddha’s Hand Old-Fashioned
Courtesy of the Orchids at Palm Court, Cincinnati, OH
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Single Barrel Blanton’s bourbon
- 1 Buddha’s hand “finger”
- 1 ‘Old Fashioned’ ice cube (see below)
- 3 Amarena cherries
- 1 pinch Sugar
- 3-4 slices of Buddha’s hand, for garnish
Preparation: Thinly slice six rings of Buddha’s hand in the bottom of a rocks glass. Add a dash of sugar and lightly muddle. Add one cherry and gently smash. Add the Old Fashioned ice and bourbon. Slice a few additional slices of Buddha’s hand over top and garnish with a skewer of cherries.
Old Fashioned Ice
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 c. water
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1/8 c. bitters
Preparation: Heat water and sugar until it dissolves. Cool to room temperature and add bitters. Freeze in 2” ice cube molds.
Reyka Vodka Snow Caps
Ingredients:
- 1 oz. Reyka vodka
- 1 oz. Solerno blood orange liqueur
- 1 oz. Ancho Reyes chile liqueur
- 1 oz. Maraschino liqueur
- 1 oz. Lemon juice
- Dash of Angostura bitters
Preparations: Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass and stir to combine. Drizzle over a snow cone packed full of crushed ice.