Sunset Magazine published several excerpts and lovely photos in this story.
Read it here, or just pick up a copy of The Ice Book, or join me in one of my Ice Bling Classes!
Sunset Magazine published several excerpts and lovely photos in this story.
Read it here, or just pick up a copy of The Ice Book, or join me in one of my Ice Bling Classes!
For this article on Liquor.com, writer Audrey Morgan interviewed Don Lee and I extensively.
Whether it’s the mountain of crushed ice on a Mint Julep or a single oversized rock in an Old Fashioned, the right ice can set the right mood, and take a drink from good to great.
“Ice serves several functions in a cocktail,” says Camper English, a pioneer of clear ice and the author of The Ice Book. “It chills and dilutes them and it can also look so good that it functions as a garnish.”
I had a little unexpected treat today, when I saw The Ice Book mentioned in this story "Is Ice the Ultimate Luxury?" in T, the New York Times Magazine.
This is the third time the New York Times has written about my little book on ice cubes!
I wrote a story for Distiller Magazine about the various ways to implement a big ice program. It was written with distilleries (that have sampling bars) in mind – they often have a lot of floor space, but even those with distillery bars don't often have a ton of freezer space.
I tried to be cognizant of the specific needs of distilleries, the possibility for take-out ice sales, and the notion that maybe if it's easy you could just buy it.
In this experiment, I started with ice spheres made in a thermos. These come out pretty great in general, but not perfect.
So I decided to compare smoothing them to see if I could make them perfectly round and with a smooth surface using these Cocktail Kingdom ice ball presses.
The large first one, as you can see, is too big for the ice sphere, and although the surface becomes smooth, it’s still kind of egg shaped. (You can also see the initial ice sphere was a little cloudy- I think the fan was blowing on it in my freezer; I should know better.)
The smaller second ice ball press, on the other hand, comes out a bunch smaller, but it’s a perfect ping pong ball sized sphere. 
If only I had one in between the two sizes! 65mm I think would be about right.
Just for fun I bought an ice shaver (raspador de hielo) off of Amazon. I didn’t particularly need one, I just wanted to try it.
It is used to make flavored shaved ices around the world. (Or Mint Juleps in my world.) To use it you slide it across a slab of ice and a blade on the bottom shaves it and collects it inside.
There’s absolutely no reason to use clear ice for this but that’s all I have at home 🙂
I used it to make a flat surface on slab of clear ice. When you make slabs of ice in the cooler, the bottom side in particular is a bit wavy after you dump out its contents. So using the shaver I made it all even, and then so that it has a smooth surface I smoothed it with a thaw plate. (You can just use the bottom of a pot, back of an ice designer plate, or other flat metal.)
I was interviewed for this terrific story in Vanity Fair that brings together the modern manifestations of clear ice with its history as a luxury item that quickly transforms into an everyday necessity over and over again. I think the writer did a great job with it.
My fellow ice book author Amy Brady wrote an article for Scientific American on the use of ice and its impacts in cocktail programs.
I consider it a success that not only did she include The Ice Book in the story, I was able to get the expression "dirty dump" in Scientific American!
Read: Climate-Friendly Cocktail Recipes Go Light on Ice
I was interviewed for this story mostly on storing ice.
The 10 Biggest Mistakes You're Making With Ice Cubes, According To Camper English
Crystalline or cloudy? The character of your beverage's ice can be a hot-button issue for some. Ice cube reporter Camper English preeminently taught the masses how to make perfectly clear ice cubes at home. He's written a book about it — aptly named "The Ice Book" — in case your cocktail focus requires it, or it comes up on "Jeopardy." ("What is: directional freezing?")