Pineapple, yum yum!

🍹 COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK
Single Village Fix

The Single Village Fix could be seen as just a pineapple mezcal daiquiri, but it’s more than that. It has a powerful combination of flavors that will vary greatly depending on your choice of mezcal.

Mezcals can feature smoky, vegetal, fruity, and spice notes. The fruity style of some single village mezcals reminded the drink’s creator, Thad Vogler, of pineapple. So, he paired mezcal with a pineapple gum syrup and featured the Fix on the opening menu at Beretta (San Fran) in 2008.

🧊 KICKSTARTER
Compact Clear Ice Maker

It seems like there is a new clear ice maker launching on Kickstarter every other week, each claiming to be far superior than it’s predecessors.

I was sent one of them recently, and I’ve been using the ice for my wife’s iced coffees for the last few weeks ☕😅

My first test produced a sphere with good clarity and only a little haze on the bottom 10%, but this was easily rectified by using warmer water in subsequent tests. This slows down the freezing process resulting in perfectly clear ice.

It only makes 1 sphere at a time, but that’s kind of a good thing if you’re limited on freezer space and don’t plan on entertaining hordes of people… the fact that it can squeeze into a near-full freezer, or sit in a freezer door is handy.

These units aren’t cheap, but they make perfectly clear ice (when using luke warm water), are super compact, and extracting the ice ball takes seconds. Personally I prefer using cubes, but for those of you that like spheres it is worth checking out.

🧊 DIY CLEAR ICE
Alternative Methods

The clear ice maker above is a zero effort way of making a crystal clear ice sphere… but, with a little effort, you can easily make clear ice (cubes) using these methods below.

• Clear ice cylinders using an insulated coffee mug (minimal effort)

• Clear ice with a koozie / stubbie holder (little effort)

• Clear (smaller) ice cubes (medium effort)

• Clear ice in a cooler method (most effort)

🙏 ENJOYING THE NEWSLETTER?

Support the newsletter by ordering a copy of my book—whether you're a seasoned cocktail enthusiast or a complete novice, my cocktail guide will become your ultimate companion in creating great cocktails.

Already have a copy? Please leave a review on Good Reads or Amazon.