Ice Cube: ice for connoisseurs

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Turning the “simple” drinking world into an opportunity for making “culture cocktails”. Complex research goes into every cocktail, making them easy to understand for those who enjoy them. These are the pillars on which the philosophy of Mirko Turconi, Bartender Manager, is based. Armed with a shaker, he has turned a passion for drinks and luxury spirits into a profession.

Creating a good cocktail means finding the right balance between two connected aspects: dilution and cooling. Ice is first and foremost a food, and is an indispensable ingredient in any drink recipe.

If we go back to our school desks, chemistry was one of my favourite subjects. Today, bartenders have to be part scientist and part orator. The exchange of heat between two bodies takes place when they come into contact with each other. The molecules in the body with the highest temperature disperse part of their energy towards the molecules in the colder body, until a balanced temperature is reached. But let me explain more. Placed in a drink, an ice cube immediately starts to heat up, taking the heat from the surrounding temperature; but only when it reaches 0° C it starts to cool the ingredients it is in contact with, and inevitably begins to melt. So, there is no cooling without dilution, and there is no dilution without cooling. This is the “Fundamental law of traditional cocktails”! The two operations are inextricably linked. The only reason why a drink is diluted is because the ice in it melts into water. Try drinking a Negroni at room temperature. You would probably stop after the first sip, because it’s not diluted. One of the world’s most famous drinks, at 28 degrees of alcohol, drunk with no ice it could easily ruin any happy hour. But beware, this doesn't mean that it lowers the amount of alcohol we consume, just that it varies the percentage in the total quantity of our drink, which is the “alcohol content”. The perception may be different, and the taste more pleasant, but the amount of alcohol consumed remains the same.

Compact, pure and crystalline ice cubes that last longer, like our gourmet Ice Cube. Why does a quality cube have these characteristics?

Ice helps to mix ingredients with different molecules. The water released by the ice is a key component that adds quality to the drink, because thanks to the ice the different molecules blend together to create unmistakeable flavours and aromas. For me, this is the true meaning of ice: the evolution that only ice can give to a drink. Let me give you an example. Imagine you're sipping an “Old Fashioned” cocktail. Ice is what really makes this drink. This is an aperitif cocktail made with bourbon, in which sugar, angostura bitter and orange rind essence are dissolved. You go from the initial strong and intense taste of whisky to an intermediate stage where the citrus notes and fragrances prevail. The final flavour of the Old Fashioned is almost reminiscent of an iced tea, refreshing and very thirst-quenching. Three evolutions of the drink, obtained by the magic of dilution.

The Brema Ice Cube comes in the perfect size and weight for use in the shaker and the glass. This is first and foremost a technical matter, but also an aesthetic one. Because it has to be nice to look at too, and ice plays a fundamental role in the emotion a drink can produce. The Brema gourmet ice cube guarantees the right cooling, which stabilises the cocktail in the short term, remaining static and compact at just the right time, during the interchange between ice and liquid. These crucial two or three minutes that separate the drink from the counter to the customer’s table, when the drink mustn’t become watered down, the Ice Cube remains static and perfectly compact at the key moment of interchange between ice and liquid.