A good cocktail is but the sum of its parts: freshly squeezed or muddled produce, well-crafted spirits and bartending technique are elements of the perfect drink. Therefore, to those who take sipping seriously, it is no wonder that an essential part of many a fine tipple can no longer be overlooked—the ice.
My first introduction to the importance of ice was during a seminar at Tales of the Cocktail in 2007. I was intrigued that an entire hour was devoted to the discussion of frozen water, and led by cocktail bar mogul Sasha Petraske. It changed my perceptions of ice, forever.
In a nutshell, “bad” ice is the common variety scooped out of restaurant machines: pebble-sized slivers which melt quickly. “Good” ice comes in large chunks, which melt more slowly, keeping the drink colder longer, without watering it down. The preferable ‘ice cube’ is more akin to what our cocktailian ancestors chipped off the slabs of ice hauled off of frozen lakes or rivers.
Ice harvesting was an important industry until the mid-1900’s when refrigeration was invented. Historical figures such as George Washington, for example, kept a boastful stock of ice, year round, in specially made constructs on his Mount Vernon estate. Twenty-first Century cocktail bars such as Petraske’s Milk & Honey and Little Branch in NYC began freezing their own blocks of ice on-premise in order for the skilled bar team to hack off the appropriate chunks, re-creating the experience of yore.
Today, the ‘white hot’ ice trend has spread around the country and young entrepreneurs are taking note. Michel Dozios, a native of Montreal, founded Névé Ice while working behind the stick at some of Los Angeles’ respected restaurants. Noticing a void at those venues, he jumped in to satisfy it. “It only makes sense to bring back the ice that was an integral part in [historic] cocktails,” he affirms. “People have finally begun to see ice as an ingredient in their drinks; not just something to take up space.”
The word “néve” refers to dense glacier ice formed from over millennia of snow and sleet. The fledgling company currently produces three distinct kinds of ice in various forms. The Rocks (stout, square) and Collins (rectangular) options are designed to occupy 50% of the glass (the equivalent amount of normal scooped bar ice). The third variety, a “corner-less” Shaking Cube makes Dozios especially proud because it has no edges to break off and melt as the drink is shaken. His products are also “aged” at least 48-hours, allowing for greater density.
Névé Ice is based in Los Angeles, and currently supplies venues such as The Doheny, Rivera, The Foundry and Comme ça. It is also available to the public at Bar Keeper in Silverlake. Dozios plans to slowly expand his production and begin shipping to other cities in the near future. Névé Ice is among the first gourmet ice companies quenching the thirst for this international trend, and in warm-and-sunny Los Angeles, it is our very own tip of the iceberg.
(This article appeared in The Tasting Panel Magazine, March 2009)