with corn, smoke and vegetal flavors. “They look for the kinds
of things they want in beers and wines.”
“Folks these days are drinking spirits with substance,” says Barriere
of One Flew South.
MIX IT UP
Yes, it’s all about flavor at the bar. And that flavor comes not only
from spirits but from the ingredients they are mixed with. Honey
enhances some cocktails, as do fresh juices and fruits, and herbs
from the restaurant cooler. Syrups and shrubs are natural mixers,
and a must for the bar at One Flew South.
At Catalyst Restaurant, Kilgore likes to look for the little-known.
“Nothing is more fun than using an obscure ingredient to
manipulate the flavors in drinks,” he says.
When it comes to ice, just any
old cube won’t do. A source of
taste, texture and even aroma,
ice is too important to leave to
chance. It plays an integral role
in making drinks. It chills and
adds water, which helps blend
the ingredients. It also takes the
sharp edge off the main spirit
and wakes it up.
them, which makes them melt
more quickly. It’s the worst ice
in the world,” says Tim Laird,
chief entertaining officer/brand
spokesman for Brown-Forman
Corp., Louisville, Ky.
ice makes the drink
The type of ice used may vary
by the cocktail and what’s
available. Cracked ice is
favored for frozen drinks. Ice
cubes are used for libations
served on the rocks, or shaken
or stirred drinks. Ice spheres
are an appropriate addition to
highballs, and shaved ice goes
into slurry-like drinks.
Ice does make a difference.
Laird recommends selecting the
most dense, largest ice available.
“The bigger and colder, the
better.” While everyday ice
machines don’t provide that,
some machines have been
designed specifically for bar and
foodservice use and provide ice
that is heavy and melts slowly.
Kold-Draft ( kold-draft.com) is an
industry standard.
When it comes to the source of
ice, one thing is certain—typical
ice machines don’t make the
grade. They were designed to
make as much ice as possible.
“The cubes have a hole in
“Kold-Draft is my savior,” says
Tiffanie Barriere, mixologist for
One Flew South at Atlanta’s
Hartsfield-Jackson International
Airport. “The quality behind
their ice is perfect with our
spirits. It doesn’t melt fast and
it’s consistent.”
Joshua Pearson at Sepia in
Chicago is another bartender
with a Kold-Draft system. So
is Bryan Dayton of Oak at
Fourteenth in Boulder, Colo.
“We use four different types
of ice at Oak. Hand-chipped
spheres, long cylinders,
crushed ice and Kold-Draft.
They all have a direct purpose
for dilution,” Dayton says.
Some establishments prefer
to make their own ice. At PS
7’s Restaurant in Washington,
D.C., staff make blocks of
ice and chip it themselves. “I
like pretty ice in all different
sizes,” mixologist Gina
Chersevani says. “But the
most important thing about
ice is knowing how to use it.”
She mentions stirred drinks as
an example. “People sometimes
don’t stir large ice cubes enough.
Then, the drink is better when it
has set for a while.”
And, says Jason Kilgore,
beverage manager/mixologist
at Catalyst in Cambridge,
Mass., “You want to avoid
using ice that’s melting,
always a challenge in a high-
volume setting.” To get the
best ice possible, Catalyst
staff use standard ice,
approximately 1½ inches x
¼-inch thick. They crush ice
to order for smashes, and
also make their own 1½-inch
square cubes for a fun twist
on a rocks drink.
