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Why Did The Lake Ice Industry End?

Another section cut from my Vinepair article on lake ice from Norway (yesterday I shared the section on different types of ice blocks) is this one below. In it I explain why lake ice went out of fashion. It wasn’t only that ice making machines got better….

Rise of the Machines

In her book Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks–a Cool History of a Hot Commodity, author Amy Brady describes the downfall of the natural ice industry. Now that ice had become a daily necessity in America toward the end of the 1800s, ice companies harvested blocks from local rivers adjacent to cites; not just from far-afield crystalline lakes. The water was often polluted with agricultural and industrial waste, and in some years the bacteria-laden ice caused outbreaks of disease. (Even more problematically, these same source rivers were used for the drinking water.)

Bartenders noticed. The Standard Manual of Soda and Other Beverages, published in 1897, noted, “Some dealers put shaved ice into the soda water when served. It is a tedious process to grind the ice on a shaver, and makes the process of serving drinks much slower; ice is usually impure, and the beverage is really not fit to drink; and lastly, the beverage quickly loses its gas and tastes flat.”

Dirty soda wasn’t the only issue impacting the old-school ice business. The period of natural global cooling known as the Little Ice Age was ending- 1850 is usually cited as the end of the era. Many lakes previously harvested for ice didn’t freeze as deep as they used to; in some years not at all.

Machine-made ice also became less expensive into the early 1900s, especially after manufacturers switched to using ammonia as a coolant. Brady writes, “Withing a few years of [World War I in 1918] ending, the electric refrigerator went from being a novelty of the rich to one of the country’s most common household appliances.”

Machine ice had become the new standard, so some extant companies clinging to solvency tried to rebrand their old-fashioned lake ice handmade by Mother Nature as a craft luxury good. It didn’t catch on at the time, but maybe one of these days…

Read the original article on Vinepair here.

February 12, 2025
Ice Blocks Are Made in Many Different Ways

In the story I wrote for Vinepair about harvesting lake ice in Norway, a couple sections got cut out. They weren’t essential to the story, but I liked them a lot!

This first section is about ice blocks – I was researching the blocks people use at different ice hotels and ice carving festivals to see if they were machine or nature-made. The results are fascinating:

Other Lakes, Other Places

Not all ice blocks are equal. The Minnesota Ice Festival this year features the world’s largest ice maze, with all the 3,452, 425-pound blocks for it produced by a fast (and semi-clear) brine-cooled block-making machine owned by Minnesota Ice.

Orderud of DesignIce in Norway says that the blocks for a lot of other ice mazes and ice hotels (the non-see-through parts anyway) are typically made from compressed snow, rather than ice. Clear Clinebell blocks are sometimes used for the windows.

The Songhua River is the source for “most” of the thousands upon thousands of ice blocks used for the huge annual Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, China, not too far from the northern border with Russia. Reportedly there are more than 2000 sculptures and constructions in the theme park built from ice or snow, and some of the ice structures reach over 150 feet in height.

And at the World Ice Art Championships, held annually in Fairbanks, Alaska, blocks are taken from gravel ponds and standardized to 6 by 4 by about 2.5 feet (depending on how thick the ice is that year). Leigh Anne Hutchison, member of the Ice Alaska Board of Directors, says of the pond blocks, “Some even are cool enough to have methane bubbles in them.”

That sounds a bit more “scary” than “cool,” until you realize that nobody is trying to eat that ice. (The blocks with methane bubbles do look pretty groovy though; she sent me pictures.) As far as Orderud is aware, none of the naturally frozen ice for these or any other festivals is served in drinks.

Read the story on Vinepair here, and imagine this section in it.

February 11, 2025
The Return of Ice from Lakes

I visited Norway late last year to see an “ice farm.” I wrote it up for Vinepair.

The story I turned in was about twice as long (my bad) so I’ll also share some of the stuff that was cut out here over the next couple of days. For now, here is the story.

Frosty, cooling drinks like juleps and cobblers were trending in early 1800s America, their popularity driven by the recent year-round availability of ice. Blocks of it were cut from ponds and lakes in Massachusetts and Maine in the winters, then sold locally or exported abroad on ships specially insulated to keep as much of it solid as possible.

When the cold cocktail trend caught on in the United Kingdom, thanks in part to books like Charlie Paul’s “Recipes of American and other Iced Drinks,” London ice delivery men wore uniforms with eagle buttons to reinforce the product’s U.S. provenance. Initially, ice was a luxury product over there, and the Wenham Lake Ice Company (located just north of Salem, Mass.) was the leading provider in London, at least until counterfeit cubes flooded the market.

In 1873, The Food Journal reported that “the use of ice has gradually increased among our population in the last twenty years, at an ever-accelerating rate, although it is as yet by no means as necessary an article in our domestic economy as among our American cousins,” and also that most of the U.K.’s ice now came from Norway. The country had a long-established relationship selling ice (usually along with fish) to the U.K. and wanted in on the cool new action. In fact, one Norwegian company renamed one of its local lakes from Lake Oppegård to Wenham Lake so that it could sell its ice under the same name as the famous American company.

Continue reading here.

February 10, 2025
The Only Good Alcohol is Made from Wine

I’ve read in other sources that when grain distillation became available in the 1400s and 1500s, it was viewed as a far less healthy alcohol than that distilled from grape wine.

The sources I’m thinking of were from Germany, at a time when distilled spirits were still technically medicinal, even if people were dipping into the medicine enough that governments passed laws about how much medicine could be dispensed at one time.

I also knew that when absinthe came into vogue in the early 1800s, it was initially made with a wine base, but due mostly to phylloxera that killed of the vines in France, producers swtiched to alcohol made from grain or beets.

I knew they called absinthe “artificial” and this pointed to it being flavored with wormwood and anise. I got the sense that the base spirit was considered “artificial” as well.

I have just started reading The Hour of Absinthe, an academics look at the popularity and downfall of absinthe in France and its colonies. I have the feeling I’m going to get a lot of use out of this book.

Anyway, the author Nina S. Studer makes it explicit:

So that’s cool. I look forward to continuing to read the book.

Buy: The Hour of Absinthe A Cultural History of France's Most Notorious Drink Volume [amazon][bookshop]

Your purchase supports my research as well.

February 4, 2025
Esquire’s Best and Worst Cocktails of 1934

Esquire magazine printed an article with the Ten Best Cocktails of 1934 – the year after Prohibition was repealed. They included at the end a list of the Worst cocktails as well.

Esquire’s link to the story is here, but it requires a subscription to view.

DiffordsGuide has the list of best and worst, but not the entire article it comes from.

Here’s the Worst list:

I’ve seen this list in a lot of places online, but never the full article, so I went to the San Francisco Public Library yesterday and took it out of the archives.

I didn’t realize that not only was Esquire huge in size something like 11 x 17 back then, but also had a ton of pages. It was basically a book every month.

January 14, 2025
Heinold’s First and Last Chance Over the Years

I stumbled across this thread on Threads -it’s a history of the wonderful and historic the bar Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon in Oakland’s Jack London Square, as seen through pictures of its front.

If you haven’t been, Heinold’s is a little shack built from the remains of a paddle steamer boat, which opened in 1884 (or 1883, depending on which history you believe). The interior of the tiny bar runs on an extreme slant as the ground beneath it compressed during the 1906 earthquake. The bar is so angled that if you set a full pint of beer on top it will likely pour out of the side – they sometimes offer coasters in a wedge shape like a doorstop so that drinks stay flat! It’s a magic place.

The post was put together by the San Francisco Ghost Signs Mapping Project.

Here are a few pics and I’d recommend you follow the entire thread, it’s great and there are a lot more to see.

January 13, 2025
The Cocktail is the International Alcoholic Esperanto

Here’s a fun excerpt:

The American Mercury 1924-09: Vol 3 Iss 9

CLINICAL NOTES
BY GEORGE JEAN NATHAN AND H. L. MENCKEN

The cocktail, once observed George Ade, follows the American flag. That was twenty years ago. The flags of all nations today follow the cocktail. Its fame has spread over the globe, and justly. It has captured the English and the French, the Danes and the Italians. Five o'clock in Piccadilly brings its gin and vermouth and dash of bitters as five o'clock along the grand boulevards brings its iced brandy and gum syrup and dash of Byrth. It is the gift of smiling America to lackadaisical Europe. It is the international alcoholic Esperanto.

January 6, 2025
Make Clear Ice Shell Shot Glasses, Bowls, and Other Shapes
Most of us ice nerds know about making a clear ice sphere shell as pioneered by The Aviary, but you can use the same easy technique to make other shapes.

The technique to make the ice shell for a drink inside a sphere can be found in The Ice Book – and you can also find it in this story in Imbibe Magazine.

Inspired by a video of a Midwestern lady who used the same technique to make covers for ice lanterns in 5-gallon pails, I made some other shapes.

Notes and Tips for making Ice Shell Containers
- Fill a plastic container with water and leave the top off. Freeze for a few hours until you can see a shell forming around the insides.
- The top layer will be thicker than the bottom and sides, so keep that in mind.
- After the first few hours I dipped the container in warm water to loosen it and slid out the shell. I put it back in the freezer outside of the container so that the bottom would freeze faster.
- After the layer is thick enough, poke a hole and let the interior water drain.
- I expanded the holes using a metal stick dipped into hot/boiling water. See below for another method.
For this shot glass below, I used the copper pan bottom to melt off the top of the shape entirely. I think it looks great. The downside is that you loose a lot of the height of the shot glass this way, so this would be best in a taller container.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider purchasing a copy of The Ice Book to help support this blog, thanks!
January 3, 2025
New Drink Book Releases in 2025
I keep a close eye on new books on drinks (mostly cocktails and spirits rather than beer/wine), and I read most of them that come out every year.

On this post I’ll keep track of them. I probably won’t include every cultural franchise tie-in cocktail book (Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc) but some. If you want to see books from 2024, check out:Thirty Four New Drink Books for Fall 2024 and The Best Drinks Books of 2024

Here’s another one I missed:
- Cognac, Dissecting The World’s Most Famous Brandy
  - Amazon
  - Charles Neal Selections
October 2025 Drink Books:
- The Botanical Bar: 50 Intoxicating Ingredients and Bespoke Cocktails
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
- Behind the Bar: Tequila: 50 Tequila Cocktails from Bars Around the World
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
- House of Whisky and Bourbon: Over 40 Cocktails to Shake, Muddle and Stir at Home
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
- Make Myna Double: Cocktails for Bird Lovers
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
- The History of Whiskey: in 100 Bottles, Barrels, and More
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
- Three Cheers: Cocktails Three Ways: Classics, Riffs, and Zero-Proof Sips
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
- Home Bartending Mastery: Iconic Cocktails to Build Skills and Drink Better
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
- Uneasy Elixirs: 50 Curious Cocktails Inspired by the Works of Edward Gorey
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
- The Madrusan Cocktail Companion: 2800+ cocktails with contributions from 100 of the world’s best bartenders
  - Amazon
  - Bookshop
September 2025 Drink Books:
- Savory and Sweet Shrubs: Tart Mixers for Delicious Cocktails and Mocktails
- American Whiskey Master Class: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Bourbon, Rye, and Other American Whiskeys
- The Whiskey Bible: A Complete Guide to the World’s Greatest Spirit
- Get Lit: Cocktails That Bring Your Favorite Books to Life
- Soju Party: How to Drink (and Eat!) Like a Korean
- Classic Cocktail Revival
- Tequila, Mezcal & More: Discover, Sip & Mix the Best Agave Spirits
- The Mixology Way: Classic cocktail recipes to master the art of mixology
- The Japanese Way of Whisky: Japan’s Whiskies and how to Enjoy them
- Both Sides of the Glass: Paired Cocktails and Mocktails to Toast Any Taste
- The Comic Book History of the Cocktail: Five Centuries of Mixing Drinks and Carrying On
- The Whisky World Tour: A curated guide to unforgettable distilleries and their whiskies
- Booze & Vinyl Country: 100+ Spirited Music-and-Drink Pairings
New Finds:
- Kentucky Bourbon: The Essential Guide to the American Spirit
- THE RUM NEVER SETS: 300 YEARS OF ROYAL NAVY & LONDON DOCK RUM
  - WonkPress
- Bar Design-Principles, Practices, Dimensions
  - Apple Books
- Mezcal in Oaxaca: A Craft Spirit for the Global Marketplace
- Mother of Bourbon: The Greatest American Whiskey Story Never Told
June, July, and August New Drink Book Releases 2025
- Behind the Home Bar: The Essential Guide to Making Cocktails
- Spooky Cocktails: 100+ Spirited and Wickedly Delicious Drinks
- Totally ’80s Cocktails
- The Cocktail Bar: Perfectly mixed drinks from London’s iconic hotel bars
- The Eras Pour: The Unofficial, Ultimate Taylor Swift Cocktail Book
- The Obituary Cocktail
- The Ramos Gin Fizz
- Be a Beverage Expert: A Guide to Understanding Wine, Beer, Spirits, and Cocktails
Additional April and May Books
- Drink and Democracy: Alcohol and the Political Imaginary in Colonial Australia
- HYPER drinks
  - Ungarnished UK
April through May 2025 Drink Book Releases
- The Official Barbie Cocktail Book: 50 Dreamy Recipes for Inspired Entertaining
- Mood Drinks: Alcohol-Free Cocktails to Create the Perfect Mood
- Hard Seltzer, Iced Tea, Kombucha, and Cider: How to Make Your Own Boozy Fermented Drinks
- Tequila Wars: José Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico
- The Curious Bartender’s Agave Safari: Discovering and appreciating Mexico’s tequilas, mezcals & more
- Casablanca Cocktails: We’ll Always Have Aperitifs
- The Unauthorized Court of Cocktails: Recipes for your Romantasies
- The Brandy Milk Punch
- The Unofficial A Court of Thorns and Roses Cocktail Book
January Through March 2025 Drink Book Releases
- Spirited Women: Makers, Shakers, and Trailblazers in the World of Cocktails
- Lessons in Mixology: A graphic guide to making the perfect cocktail
- MockTales: 50+ Literary Mocktails Inspired by Classic Works, Banned Books, and More
- How to Be a Better Drinker: Cocktail Recipes and Boozy Etiquette
- Tokyo Bar: 65 recipes for Japanese-style cocktails and izakaya snacks
- Tiny Cocktails: The Art of Miniature Mixology: A Cocktail Recipe Book
- Pour Together: A Cocktail Recipe Book: 2-Ingredient Cocktails to Meet Every Mood
- Margarita Time: 60+ Tequila & Mezcal Cocktails, Served Up, Over & Blended
- Sleepless in Sangria: 60 Rom-Com Cocktails for Movie Night
- Drink Your Garden: Recipes, Stories and Tips from the Simple Goodness Cocktail Farm
- The Art of Cocktails: By the Legendary Bartender at the Ritz
- The Forgotten Sense: The New Science of Smell―and the Extraordinary Power of the Nose
- Sours: A History of the World’s Most Storied Cocktail Style
- This is a Cocktail Book
  - ThisIsACocktailBook.com
- Citrus: A World History
- Guide to Tropical Potions & Exotic Elixirs
  - TikiLindy.com
Note: As indicated on my About page, all purchase links on Alcademics may take you to a page where I earn a small commission.
December 30, 2024
The Best Drinks Books of 2024

These are some of my favorite cocktails and spirits books I read in 2024. Several of them I blurbed for their authors. There are few more books that were published this year that I haven't read yet, so maybe they'll get on next year's list.

My 2023 Best Of List is here, by the way. In no particular order:

Cocktail Theory – A Sensory Approach to Transcendent Drinks

A sciency book that's half about the perfect conditions for cocktails, half about applying perfumer techniques to cocktail development.

My video review

Buy It: Amazon Sfumato

Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits

My blurb: An investigation into the secretive and competitive collectors and their methods, unsolved mysteries, and mythological caches. The once worthless dusties inspire Goldfarb to debate the monetary value of quality versus rarity and the proximity to fame. And unlike, say, stamp collectors, the author and every other dusty hunter must grapple with the decision whether to taste a moment in time or to keep time locked away in a bottle.

My review

Buy it: Amazon (note: super cheap right now) Bookshop

Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home

My blurb: The Cocktail Parlor is a literature review of women-authored books in which there are mixed drink recipes, and an analysis of what those drinks reveal about the changing role of women in society. [Along the way,] Dr. Nice cites so many fascinating authors that I kept one browser window open to search for more information about them and another to add their books to my reading list. Rarely has a drink book so enthralled me yet left me thirsty for more.

My review

Buy It: Amazon (currently on sale) Bookshop

The Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Dangerous Spirit

My blurb: Retracing the steps of a prolific modern-day forger of absinthe who tricked enthusiasts and experts, Evan Rail deciphers how the spirit was distilled, colored, blended, bottled, and sold a century ago, and takes us to meet members of the current absinthe collecting community spread throughout Europe who improbably cracked the case of the faker together. I finished this book in a couple sittings because of its plot and pacing, but also learned a ridiculous amount of new and unexpected information about absinthe along the way. If you’re interested in vintage spirits generally, absinthe specifically, the importance of online communities, or tasty true crime, this book is for you!

My review

Buy It: Amazon Bookshop

Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit

A wonderfully surprising and authentic telling of brand history that had me engaged and enraged!

My review

Buy It: Amazon Bookshop

The Bourbon Drinker's Companion: A Guide to American Distilleries, with Travel Advice, Folklore, and Tasting Notes

Tastings and a travelogue. Tons of great information from a distiller's point of view, and honest reviews not given in isolation.

My review

Buy It: Amazon Bookshop

Spirits Distilled : A Guide to the Ingredients Behind a Better Bottle

My blurb: Spirits Distilled is a new view of booze from the ground up. Beyond illuminating the plants, people, and production of all the major spirits categories, Nat Harry’s thoughtful recommendations should empower us to make better choices in the liquor aisle.

Buy It: Amazon Bookshop

December 19, 2024