Fancy ice cubes elevate almost any cocktail experience. It's just ice, but the way it's shaped feels so different once it lands in your mouth. A rocks glass is a classic use of ice, but what about ice that tastes different from the regular ice in your fridge? That's where smoke ice comes into play. This weird wood smoke garnish is one of the coolest (no pun intended) types of ice you can put in your favorite drink. The smoke flavor definitely adds an extra kick to your favorite cocktail. Here's a simple DIY for at-home smoked ice cubes.
How To Make Smoked Ice
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Directions:
1. To make smoked ice, you'll need a bunch of ice cubes. If you want to get even fancier, you can freeze your ice into appropriate shapes for smoked cocktails. Annoy your friends with your smoking gun-shaped smoked ice cubes. You're already making a weird cocktail, so it's only natural you go all out.
2. According to amazingribs.com, you'll need to set up your smoker, gas grill, or charcoal grill for 2-zone indirect cooking with smoke. Keep the temp low, about 225°F. You can do this as your second step, or after the third step on this page. You've probably never used your BBQ like this.
3. Once the smoker is close to being heated up, dump your ice into a shallow foil pan. The sides need to be high incase the ice melts. Put the pan on your smoker and let the ice smoke for about an hour until it is completely melted. Yep, you're melting the ice back into liquid right after making it solid. It'll all make sense in a bit.
4. Then you need to make ice again, this time with the smoked water. You can either use an ice cube tray, or fill freezer bags with the liquid smoke, if you want to make crushed ice for daiquiris or other crushed ice drinks.
5. That's pretty much it. You can use the smoked ice cubes for any cocktail recipe, but since this will be mesquite, smoky flavor, we recommend you use it in an old-fashioned, bloody Mary or margarita. Anything with tequila would also taste fantastic. A negroni might also be a good candidate for this sidebar garnish. The smokiness compliments these cocktails well!
It can be tedious, but if you make enough smoked ice cubes, you'll have enough to last the week!
