Filter your cubes
July 31st, 2007
On the rocks?
I choose to drink blends and a few lighter single-malt scotch whiskeys over ice. However, living in an area with mediocre water, I always had a problem with a slight deterioration in the flavor of my beverages as the water infused with the spirit. This inevitably lead me to either drink too fast or compensate my proportions to lessen the diluting infusion. In any case, I don’t like to make modifications to recipes due to deficiencies in the ingredients.
An easy fix is to create high-quality ice cubes. Since I’m spending $20+ (I realize that most quality spirits are at least double this cost) for the spirit of my choice, it doesn’t seem to make sense to then reduce the quality with bad ice. I now make all of my ice cubes with water filtered through my PUR water system. It cost less than $40 and my return-on-investment can be easily justified in the quality of my spirits on/over ice vs. the cost of lower quality spirits.
This philosophy holds true to shaken/chilled beverages as well. Why infuse unfiltered and highly metallic ice cubes, like those used in many bars, with high-quality spirits that have been under tight quality control measures throughout production? Margaritas, martinis and even your colas can benefit from using filtered water. It doesn’t take much but the benefit is great!