All images except those in the gallery at the bottom courtesy of STIR Raleigh. Gallery images by Elizabeth Brignac.
STIR Artisanal Ice Adds a Cool Cocktail Component
By Elizabeth Brignac.
Like the rest of the world, I had heard of craft cocktails, infused liquors and specialty-designed mocktails. But artisanal ice was something I had never encountered. So when local restaurant and cocktail bar STIR got in touch asking if we’d be interested in writing about it, I was intrigued. Artisanal ice: just a gimmick or a quality addition to a cocktail?
The dramatic effect of artisanal ice is undeniable—they have an ice show where they put a cube of their ice into a press and pull out a globe that’s clear as a giant dewdrop—but as far as I am concerned, an impressive visual impact adds to a good cocktail experience. More importantly, the artisanal ice does improve the cocktail’s substance as well as its look.
Here’s how it works: regular water (it’s not fancy craft water or anything) is filtered several times and then frozen in a giant, 300-pound block over three to five days. The way it is frozen matters a lot. Their system uses an immersion circulator to keep water circulating in the ice as it freezes, pushing air bubbles to the top of the ice block. The process usually results in very clear, dense ice. (Sometimes impurities cloud the ice despite all these preparations. When that happens, STIR doesn’t use that block as artisanal ice.)
The ice’s clarity adds to the visual impact of the drink, but more importantly, the density means that it melts less quickly than regular ice, resulting in cold cocktails that aren’t watered down. This was certainly the case with the drink I had at STIR—the ice melted much more slowly than regular ice cubes do.
Once the block is ready for use, an ice chef—a staff member who has been trained on working with the ice—cuts the block into different sizes. These smaller cubes are used for different purposes. One 300-pound ice block can chill 300-400 cocktails, and they usually make two blocks per week.
The cut ice cubes used for whichever cocktails are most appropriate for each size and shape of ice cube. Some goes into the shave-ice machine, which creates the effect of New Orleans-style snowball/cocktail hybrid when served with a drink. Some blocks are used in ice shows, in which a staff member brings an ice press, adds a 3”x3” cube and presses the ice block into a beautiful globe of perfectly clear ice, which they then add to a cocktail.
STIR, a regional chain with five locations in North Carolina and Tennessee, has made artisanal ice one of its brand pillars, and so far, it has seen success with this approach. While artisanal ice can be finicky, the result is undeniably refreshing. A cold craft cocktail with clear ice that doesn’t melt quickly is always welcome— especially in the heat of a North Carolina August.
Below are some images from the STIR ice show showing how a block of artisanal ice is pressed into a globe and added to a cocktail.
