Just as there are countless types of cocktail glasses and serving techniques, there are also many ways to make ice…and I’ve tried many of them. I’m partial to a small cube or two with a pour of whiskey and a huge cube in my Boulevardier; I’m a big fan of crushed ice for margaritas, and I love seeing a Collins spear in a tall drink. After having an especially good cocktail at a bar, I often mull over how I can approximate the drink at home. When it comes to its crystal-clear ice cube, I thought, “Well, that’s just one of the perks of going to a killer cocktail bar.” But after mulling it over a bit more, I wondered if it might indeed be possible to make crystal-clear ice at home. After some research, I discovered the True Cubes ice cube tray, which exceeded all expectations and allowed me to bring the magic of clear ice into my home bar.

Why You Need Clear Ice in Your Cocktails 

There are aesthetic reasons for clear ice, and there are also practical ones. First and foremost, putting a clear ice cube in a drink is simply very cool—seeing straight through your cocktail or finishing a drink and finding a ghostly square at the bottom of your glass blows one’s mind. Additionally, the seasoned imbiber can tell a lot about a cocktail by its color, and cloudy ice can affect the hue. Using butterfly pea powder to give your drink a dreamy blue vibe, or subbing a different amaro for Campari to lend an unexpected flavor and hue to your Negroni? Awesome! Sadly, nothing distracts from your creation like some big, honkin’, cloudy ice cubes. 

Furthermore, it can help rid your water of any off-flavors. Depending on the source, your water may contain chemicals like chlorine as well as different concentrations of minerals, which can affect the taste of your drink. According to the World Health Organization, drinking water with under 300 milligrams per liter (equivalent to 300 ppm, or parts per million) of TDS (total dissolved solids) is considered “excellent.” This means that there are substances in the water (often intentionally added, like chlorine), but it’s still safe to drink (and its taste is tolerable). Just for reference, I live in Chicago, and my tap water was 129 ppm when I last measured it, which is quite good. The level of TDS can affect the taste of ice, which, in turn, changes the flavor of your cocktail as it melts. 

The True Cubes tray also claims to create ice that melts slower than conventional ice, allowing you to enjoy your beverage without over-dilution, which I’ve found to be true.

How the True Cubes Tray Works 

This ice maker uses directional freezing to help remove impurities. The tray has three components—a top silicone tray (which makes four ice cubes), a bottom silicone tray (which collects the leftover water), and an insulated box.

You begin by filling up the entire tray with water. After it’s full, you stick it in the freezer and let it solidify for 18 to 24 hours, ideally—at this point, the cubes will be frozen, but the bottom will still be liquid enough that you won’t have trouble removing the trays. (The lower compartment is super insulated, so its interior won’t freeze until after the top is already frozen.) Since the top of the tray is exposed, it freezes from the top down, naturally clarifying the water and pushing particles and bubbles toward the bottom of the tray. After about a day, the cubes will be thoroughly frozen and clear, ready for your next Old Fashioned.

I tested the effectiveness of this using my 129 ppm tap water—and after melting one of the clear cubes, it was only 7 ppm. (You read that right!) By comparison, one of my big, cloudy cubes ended up at 127 ppm. That’s a pretty massive difference, but a remarkably easy one to achieve if you’re looking to incorporate the wonder of clear ice into your next drink.

FAQs

Can boiling water make clear ice?

When trying the True Cubes, I made ice cubes in a regular tray from boiled water and they were cloudy. Boiling can push out some of the air bubbles trapped in water, but you really need a top-down freezing device to ensure you get all the impurities out.

Is clear ice safer than white ice? 

If you’re using drinkable water, cloudy ice is perfectly safe, but clear ice will have fewer impurities.

What is the best water for crystal-clear ice cubes? 

True Cubes says, “Tap water is recommended. Distilled, reverse osmosis, or well water may not produce the best cubes.” That said, the site does go on to recommend using bottled water if your tap water isn’t getting clear enough. 

Is timing the freeze really that important? 

Definitely. Depending on your freezer, your cubes won’t be totally frozen if you go under the recommended 18 to 24 hours. If you let it go significantly longer than 24 hours, the cubes will be much harder to take out, since all of the water below will have frozen, trapping the second tray. Then, you’ll have to let it thaw a bit and run some warm water on the box’s exterior.

Why We’re the Experts

• Adam Rothbarth is a Serious Eats contributor.
• He previously served as the Food & Kitchen Writer for VICE’s shopping page, Rec Room.
• He currently is a news and deals writer for Food & Wine.
• Adam has tested and written about everything bar-related, including cocktail-making machines, wine fridges, bar tools, glasses, coolers, and cocktail books.
• He’s constantly on the hunt for the absolute best glasses, spirits, and ice molds for his home bar.