SIP: Bartending Trend Calls For Nice Ice, Baby

MICHELLE LOCKE

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Erik Adkins spends a lot of time on ice.

As general manager of the Heaven's Dog bar in San Francisco he's very particular about what ice goes into his cocktails, preferring hand-carved chunks for slow-sipping drinks and oversized clear cubes for lighter concoctions.

And that's just the tip of the ice trend.

Driven by the same quest for perfection that elevated bread, cheese and wine to objects of desire, ice has entered an epicurean age, coming in new shapes and sizes.

The ideal, according to Adkins, is big, cold, clear, clean — ice that doesn't dillute a cocktail for drinks that are "snappier."

The quest for cold perfection, at least in the United States, seems to go back two or three years, starting in Manhattan and dovetailing with the renewed interest in classic cocktails made with fresh and often locally sourced ingredients.

"We basically decided to go back and try to introduce what a cocktail was meant to be," says Kenta Goto, head bartender at the Pegu Club in New York's SoHo district. "It's almost mandatory to pay attention to the ice; ice is very important."