Summer 2016 | Sea Island Life Magazine Spring/Summer 2016 | Page 10

L I B AT I O N S

ON ICE

MIXOLOGISTS KNOW THE SECRET TO CRAFT COCKTAILS IS IN KEEPING THEM COOL.

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BY LARRY OLMSTED

he craft cocktail revival has led to a sea of change in
bartending, from homemade bitters to an explosion
of artisan distilleries and individual bottles of scotch
that have sold for as much as luxury cars. Given all this,
one might think spirits, mixers or herb infusions are the key
to exceptional cocktails, but they are not. Asking almost any
top mixologist to name the most important bar ingredient will
yield the same surprising answer: ice.
“If you look at the stove as the heart of the kitchen, we think
the same way about ice for drinks—it’s the soul of what we do,”
says Jack McGarry, co-owner of New York’s The Dead Rabbit
Grocery and Grog, named the World’s Best Bar by the Tales of
the Cocktail’s 2015 Spirited Awards, the Oscars of mixology.
In order to concoct the perfect type of ice, McGarry and his

10 SEA ISL AND LIFE | SPRING/SUMMER 2016

partner experimented with a variety of freezers, water types
and production techniques. “We’ve always had a huge emphasis on ice, going back eight or nine years,” he comments.
“[Ice] is actually the most important ingredient in any
cocktail,” echoes Jonathan Pogash, owner of The Cocktail
Guru, a consultancy for bars, restaurants and liquor brands.
“Commercial ice trade began in this country in 1806, harvested
from frozen lakes. Before then, all drinks were warm, but ice
gave rise to cocktail culture, with new drinks created—like the
mint julep—using crushed ice.
“…When we started relying on cheap, machine-made ice, quality went down and drinks became diluted,” Pogash says. “With the
classic cocktail resurgence, we are going back to the roots and taking ice seriously again.”