Introduction:
My first encounter with an ice ball came a few years back when Makers Mark Distillery mailed out an ice ball mold as their annual Christmas gift for those of us who had registered as ambassadors. I’ll admit that I was excited when it arrived, like any kid that gets a toy, but since I typically don’t add more than a splash of water to my whiskey I was a bit skeptical about how useful I would find the molds.
Eric has continued to use those ice molds and he will typically place them in the glass to cool the whiskey for about 2-3 minutes and then toss the ice out altogether. I’ve tried this on a few occasions and it does chill the spirit down to a good temperature while not diluting the booze.
Selection:
Ice molds have become increasingly more popular with drinkers in the last couple years so I figured I should get with the times. You won’t catch me pouring anything too fancy over an ice ball but that still leaves a lot to dabbling. Naturally, I began to look around Amazon to see what types of molds were available and noticed the Tovolo line. They had a few options, had good reviews, and were prime eligible, which meant less time to wait. So I placed the Tovolo Sphere Ice Molds, pack of 2, into the shopping cart and they arrived in a couple days.
Packaging and Appearance:
The box was pretty snazzy and demonstrated the stack ability of the molds. Pretty clever on their part. Tovolo did a good job utilizing the box to provide visually stimulating instructions for ease of use. One side of the box had the fail proof directions for how to make your ice spheres. This may seem obvious and insignificant but I’m sure all of us can think of something where the directions were complicated and inaccurate to say the least.
The molds themselves appeared to draw their design from a kitchenware line which comes as no surprise since that’s Tovolo’s bread and butter. The bottom is BPA free plastic and the top is a more flexible silicone. The color scheme is simple and appealing.
Trying It Out:
The bottom portion of the mold has a water fill line so I complied with the directions. After putting the water in, I placed the top mold slowly onto the bottom mold. This, I’m assuming is to help the air escape so that the ice ball is as solid as possible. There is a clever little air hole in the top mold that lets air escape as you press the water into the sphere form it will later maintain on its own. Then, since I had already been reinforced to stack these fine molds when I un-stacked them out of the box I stacked them in the freezer. 4-6 Hours later I had Ice Spheres!!
When you remove the molds from the freezer you are to run warm tap water, very specific, over the mold to help the freeing of the sphere in the next step. The slickly designed silicone top allows you to peel it from the sphere and then with a gentle squeeze the sphere is released into your glass of choice.
The cool thing about this largish sphere of ice is that it has a large surface area so it doesn’t melt quickly. Unless you were to let it sit in your spirit overnight you will have a sizable sphere remaining even after you’ve enjoyed your beverage. What I did not anticipate is that since the ice sphere melts so slowly your glass does not sweat. Very cool! I was not expecting that. So, I was able to chill my bourbon and glass, but no sweat. I wish I could write 1000 words on this because I was pretty excited. It’s nice not to have to worry yourself with a coaster if you can.
Conclusion:
I would absolutely recommend purchasing these Tovolo Ice Sphere Molds. It’s a pack of 2 and $11 and if you’re an Amazon Prime member it’s free 2 day shipping. Slick, thoughtful design and most importantly they are a snap to use and the ice sphere is nice to look at. Purchase yourself one and enjoy!
