Why Clear Ice Matters in Whiskey?
Have you ever heard of clear ice?
I hadn’t—until two years ago, when a colleague told me that real whiskey drinkers only use clear ice.
Clear ice looks as pure and glass-like as crystal. By contrast, ice made in most home freezers or standard ice makers contains plenty of trapped air bubbles, making it cloudy and opaque. Here, we refer to this type as “regular ice.”
Low temperatures help bring out the aroma of spirits, so adding ice often enhances the drinking experience. But that raises a question: why use clear ice for whiskey? Isn’t regular ice good enough?
① Clear ice melts more slowly and preserves the flavor
When you drink whiskey, you want to savor it—not rush through it. Regular ice melts quickly, especially in alcohol, which dilutes the whiskey and mutes its aroma.
Clear ice behaves differently. It’s denser and colder because it freezes uniformly without air trapped. As a result, it has greater thermal stability and melts much more slowly.
In our tests, a 6 cm clear ice sphere froze to about –18°C, and when taken out of the machine, its surface temperature was around –10°C.
During the melt test, it took about 2 hours to melt in room-temperature water and nearly 4 hours when left in open air.
② Clear ice makes your drink visually stunning
Before I discovered clear ice, I thought the regular cubes in a Starbucks coffee or McDonald’s cola looked perfectly fine. Even the bullet ice from most ice machines looked beautiful enough.
But once you see clear ice — the kind that looks invisible on the table -everything else becomes just ... ice.
Drop a clear cube into whiskey and the drink instantly looks more refined. From certain angles, the ice vanishes completely, leaving only the amber whiskey and the light reflecting off the glass.
If it’s a clear sphere, the effect is even more striking-light wraps smoothly around it, creating a soft, mesmerizing glow.
That’s why high-end bars use clear ice for whiskey and cocktails. It melts slowly, chills efficiently, and elevates presentation.
And it’s not just for whiskey. Specialty tea brands also use clear ice spheres to enhance both flavor and aesthetics. You can enjoy the same experience with tea or coffee at home.
How to Make Clear Ice at Home
There are plenty of DIY tutorials online.
The simplest method: fill an insulated cooler with water and place it in the freezer. After about two days, you’ll get a block of clear ice.
If you want perfectly shaped cubes or spheres, clear ice molds are an easy option. With quality molds, you can achieve crystal-clear results in roughly 36 hours—no special tools required.
How Bars Get Clear Ice?
Bars typically use two methods:
Buy pre-shaped clear ice — convenient but expensive (a single 6.5 cm clear sphere costs over $2).
Purchasing large clear ice blocks from ice factories and cutting them down by hand. Creating spheres or cubes requires manual carving with chisels, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming.
The Modern Solution: Commercial Clear Ice Machines
Our commercial clear ice machines streamline the entire process—producing large, perfectly-shaped clear ice in consistent batches, without the need for hand-cutting or shaping.
They are easy to operate, highly-reliable, and cost-effective, making them an ideal choice for bars, whiskey lounges, and premium beverage programs.
We currently offer two models:
• IMT200 – Output per cycle (single shape)
16 large spheres / 25 small spheres / 30 cubes / 24 short Collins spears / 18 long Collins spears / 30 diamond ice
• IMT300 – Output per cycle (single shape)
32 large spheres / 50 small spheres / 60 cubes / 48 short Collins spears / 36 long Collins spears / 60 diamond ice
Perfect for venues that demand both exceptional performance and impeccable presentation.
Want to learn more about our commercial clear ice machines? Click the product link or leave us a message for details.