Why Asking For Less Ice In Your Drink At A Bar Might Not Be A Good Idea

Imagine this: After patiently waiting for your turn at a crowded bar, you finally get to order that drink you've been craving. Once the bartender arrives, you decide to order your cocktail with light ice — after all, doesn't that get you more drink for your money? At first glance, this logic seems similar to ordering your Starbucks coffee with light ice. There, your barista will likely compensate for the extra space in the cup, adding more coffee in the process. But believe it or not, ordering less ice in your cocktails at the bar can actually create an unpleasant drinking experience.

This might sound backwards, but your drink will water down quicker when there's less ice in the glass overall. If the ice takes up very little surface area in your cocktail glass, it will quickly melt into the liquid contents of your drink, but if your drink contains the standard amount of ice, it's far more likely that your drink will maintain its chilled temperature for a longer period of time without as much melting. In fact, most bars formulate their cocktail recipes to handle quite a bit of ice dilution. One trick for preventing ice from melting too quickly in your cocktail is to use large, clear ice cubes with a high ratio of surface area to volume. Also, if you think ordering a cocktail with less ice will get you more liquor for less, think again. Your bartender will probably just add extra mixer, resulting in a weaker, more watery cocktail.

Ice isn't just for keeping your drink cool. It's arguably the most underrated ingredient in the mixology world, improving the flavor of numerous cocktails. When a cocktail's alcohol content is high, its flavor is likely bitter and harsh, overwhelming the drink's other subtle, complex notes. When a cocktail is both properly chilled and slightly diluted, the result is a more layered and nuanced experience. Ice can also improve a cocktail's consistency, providing a much-needed lightness to many different drinks. In fact, we've compiled a list of cocktails you should order on the rocks, such as the piña colada, which has an improved, irresistibly smooth texture when ice is involved.

Keep in mind, though, that even if your cocktail contains the proper amount of ice, the environment in which that ice was made can negatively impact its flavor. Most bars have a dedicated ice freezer, which usually makes clear ice and nothing else. At home, few people have that same luxury. Instead, we make ice in the same freezer as our leftover foods. If your fridge or freezer contain foods with strong odors, such as those from unsealed leftovers, those aromas can transfer into our ice cubes, and thus into our homemade cocktails. To properly store your cocktail ice, place any hardened ice cubes in a sealed plastic bag to reduce the ice's direct exposure to your freezer's air.