We’ve all been there. You have an amazing espresso martini at a hip, new watering hole, then come home and try to recreate it with what’s on hand in your home bar, only to be disappointed. The good news is that it’s not your bartending skills; it’s probably the ice. Coffee cocktails can be tricky to get right, not because of their ingredients but because ice melts when it comes in contact with hot coffee and dilutes the drink. Ice made from coffee, on the other hand, can counteract all that extra water and keep cocktails tasting their best.
Coffee ice cubes are super easy to make, but if they’re destined for cocktails, there’s a little more technique to it than ice made for regular iced coffee drinks. It’s also important to keep flavor in mind, because in a cocktail, every ingredient counts. Use high-quality coffee, brew it fresh and strong, and make sure to choose the right cube shape. Use your ice cubes within two weeks for best results, but they’ll keep for up to three months. Just be aware that the longer you keep them, the more likely they are to shrink as the ice undergoes sublimation. Keeping them in a zip-top bag is a good way to help them last longer and not pick up various freezer smells.
Don’t use stale coffee to make cocktail ice
Cocktail ice really needs to taste good, so don’t just use leftover drip coffee as your base. Old coffee tastes stale, plus it’s brewed at a strength that tastes good as a cup of coffee and not necessarily in a cocktail. For cocktail cubes, brew fresh, aromatic coffee, let it cool, then pour it into ice cube trays or molds and let it freeze for at least a few hours. It’s not a bad idea to brew the batch stronger than a regular pot of coffee to get an extra punch of flavor into your cocktails, too.
Don’t forget that one of the most important parts of a cocktail ice is the shape. Rum-based, tiki-style cocktails with lots of juice are better with crushed or nugget ice, for example, because the ice melts faster and the dilution balances the drink. Other drinks, like an old fashioned, are better with a single, large, slow-melting cube that won’t water down an expensive spirit.
Keep these same principles in mind when making coffee ice for your java-based concoctions. If you’re using coffee ice cubes to upgrade a negroni, go for big cubes; if you need ice for shaking espresso martinis, regular-sized cubes are fine. Once you get into the habit of making coffee ice, you’ll never have to suffer through a diluted coffee drink again.
