Who would have thought ice would become a thing It's usedoften enough. Even on a frosty cold day most crave a drink with it. Nowit's becoming more elevated and even glamorous.
Contributor and social media editor Becky Hughes wrote about this staple gone glam in today's New York Times food section. Americans havealways loved ice. even Mark Twain in 1896 wrote that ice has been so inextricably linked with the United States. "There is but a single specialty with us,only one thing that can be called the wide name American." he had written ," That is the national devotion to ice water." It all started in 1806 with Frederic Tudor according to Jonathan Reees, a history professor at Colorado State UNiversity Pueblo who has published three books about the development of American refrigeration. Tudor would give ice away at bars to get people hooked on it. It work, giving the new country a long standing addiction to cold drinks. By 1860 Americans developed a taste for ice year round and by 1875 people regularly had iced delivered to their homes. It was in 1925 however when electric refrigerators came into Americna life and with them ice cube trays. Now there are all sorts, from rounded balls to Korean made ice machine that produced the pebbled ice that cool off drinks at restaurants and fast food joints.
Yet it is "glam ice" that's making headlines. Thanks to Tiktok, developer of all trends these days, ice making has taken on new heights. There are dozens of videos showing how to make ice cubes, ice balls and ice squares along with making "snow ice" (which wou;d be perfect for making Sno-Cones), Home chefs are spending money on expensive pebble making ice machines that give the same size crunchy frozen bites that Sonic puts in their drinks.Ice lovers are combining coffee in theirs which will go well with milk and even seltzer.Some are even making hot sauce ice and Spaghettio's ice followed by Pepto Bismo Ice,Bars are putting giant spheres of ice in their drinks.These have to be clear. Drinkers have rejected cocktails with "cloudy" ice in them. There is even a custom ice company founded by Leslie Kirchhoff. Her company sells cubes for up to fourteen (!) dollars a cube. Hers have suspended flowers in them, created by a special method(which she'll never reveal). She'll even create ones with company logos on them . Home chefs can do the same thing by dropping mint leaves or small citrus wedges in prettily cut ice trays. Amazon has a dazzling array of trays that are not that expensive. Take a look at their rose and diamond shaped ones which range in price from $6.99 to $9.99.
Ice is America's addiction. Yet it does wonders to everything from whiskey to cola.They're a fun and now glam to make and use.