Glace claims to be the world’s first "luxury ice" but even after trying it, I can’t figure out what makes it luxurious.

Glace is a perfectly spherical, 2.5" …ball of ice. It’s made from purified water, which is somehow different from other ice cubes. I’ve read the product section of the website over and over again, and I still don’t get it.

I tried one of these "meticulously designed and differentiated drink-ice product" and was completely underwhelmed.  Sure, I had ice in my drink. Yes, I managed to get it to "spider" the way that they say you can do if you don’t "age" the ice for four minutes so a frost would form and create the perfectly clear ice. (’Spidering’ occurs when you pour your liquid directly onto the ice, making it crackle.)

I still don’t get it.

What I did get however was more water in my drink when the ice had melted than I wanted. I think the only way that I would use these "spheres" is with a pure spirit.  My Gentleman Jack on the Rocks for example. I suspect that the ice would melt slowly enough that you wouldn’t end up with an over-watered drink. I hope.

Apparently each sphere is hand carved in Canada and costs $3 to make.

Is this worth purchasing and then having to deal with the dry ice that it gets shipped in? Maybe – if you’re having a party and you want your friends to go "oooh" when you hand them a drink on the rocks. Otherwise, would I bother to keep this in the freezer? Nah. I can get by with regular plain old ice cubes.

If you’re really interested in getting ‘yuppie’ ice for your drinks, Glace (pronounced gloss) will run you $10 bucks a pop, and you’ve gotta get 4 or 8 per bag.  Or, you know, you could just freeze some water from your kitchen.

[image source: Glace Luxury Ice]

Tags: ice, Glace, luxury ice, luxury products, overpriced, ridiculous, goofy

Post from: EveryJoe

Review: Glace ‘Luxury’ Ice

The Partier’s Survival Kit. This is a kit which has been designed by Minimus for people who are serious about their night on the town. Packed into a flashing, light up cocktail glass comes everything you’ll need to bounce back the next morning and not feel any worse for wear. 

The kit contains a packet of “Chaser Freedom from Hangovers”, Alka Seltzer for the next morning, Advil for before you go to sleep, Tang Sport Fitness drink mix to replace some of your electrolytes and an LA Fresh Dental Finger Mit to refresh your breath. 

Originally created after receiving requests from bar owners and event planners for a unique giveaway for events, it morphed into being a popular product for your night on the town, or to give to your friends at your next party. 

The Partier’s Survival Kit retails for $8.99 and is available online.

There’s one other way you can get your hands on this little gem. If you want one of these little kits, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what you would like to see more of here at DrinksAfterDark. Make sure the e-mail address you provide is valid.

The deadline is Monday, January 12, at 11:59:59 p.m. PST. Winner will be chosen on Tuesday, January 13, 2009.

The Fine Print

Rules and regs for the contest:

1. Comments like, “Give it to me!” or “I want to win!” ARE NOT ELIGIBLE. You have to answer the question.
2. One entry per person, and yes, I do check IP addresses to remove duplicates.
3. Long-haired dudes are just as eligible to enter as long-haired chicks. I and my husband are the only people not eligible to enter. Everyone else can enter and win.
4. Comments must be received by Monday, January 12, at 11:59:59 p.m. PST.
5. I will use the random sequence generator at Random.org to choose one lucky winner, (who will be the first eligible entry in the sequence). The announcement of the winner will be FINAL. No arguing.

Good Luck!!!

Post from: EveryJoe

Party Survival Kit

Chris lists all of my usual haunts – farmer’s markets, ethnic grocery stores and alternative or whole foods markets. What Chris did list, that aren’t usual haunts for me, were several different sites around the wild wild interwebs that offer several different options that every good cocktail geek craves.

The ones that piqued my interest the most were:

• Tenzing Momo – A brick & mortar apothecary shop based out of the Pike Place market in Seattle, WA. This simple webpage conceals a great resource for some especially rare ingredients – one of the only vendors I know to carry Cinchona (for Tonic water) for example. Prices will appear especially low – be warned that this is due to quantities – as near as I can tell, each herb/spice item is sold in 1-ounce increments, so adjust an order accordingly. [I'm just up the road from Seattle - I will be checking this out the next time we're there!]
• Auntie Arwen’s – An apothecary & herbalist, Arwen’s carries a selection of herbs, roots, flora, spices & extracts. Their true specialty, however, lies in crafting specialized blends of these – often on a custom/to-order basis. Need a ‘Mango-white Pepper-Grains of Paradise’ blend? Arwen’s has you covered…[cool!]
• Forgotten Flavors – A German company (webpage is in German) who commercially produces a pair of hard-to-find cocktail ingredients – Falernum syrup & Swedish Punsch. Quality seems to be their main concern, so if you’d rather not make either ingredient yourself, give theirs a go. [ok, now I just need someone to read German for me]

The rest of Chris’s fine finds are here. Have you discovered a niche spot for some of your more random finds?

(image courtesy of Exfordy on Twitter under CC)

Post from: EveryJoe

The Hard to Find, and Otherwise Weird Ingredients

In starting to build a list of actual tanglible gifts that someone can feel like they actually gave something comes the Fee Brother’s 6 pack of  hand selected cocktail bitters – West Indies Orange, Peach, Lemon, Grapefruit, Mint and Old Fashioned. These are unique and hard-to-find cocktail mixers.

Opened in 1863, Fee Brothers of Rochester, New York, is in its fourth generation of manufacturing top quality cocktail mixes, bitters, flavoring syrups and other beverage ingredients.

(image source, courtesy of Fee Brothers)

Post from: EveryJoe

My Wish List for Christmas

You simply cannot throw a good Halloween party (or show up to one) without the following accessories:

Target has some fantastic cocktail shakers for your ghastly concoctions.

And, if you’ve got beer drinkers coming to your house, what better way to keep their personal brand of booze cold but in an inflatable skeleton cooler? This one’s definitely a must-have, and for only $20! Means it doesn’t matter if your buddy decides the best place for him to puke at the end of the night is into your skeleton’s lap, you could just toss the cooler.

Finally, what Halloween Party is complete without a good drinking game? Pick Your Poison, with a few additional, (fun) rules, could be just the thing:

Post from: EveryJoe

Last Minute Must Have Cocktail Accessories

I may have found a perfect thing to counter my spilly drinker-ness.

The Cubist Cocktail Set. After all, martini glasses and even some wine glasses tend to be rather… complicated. They’ve got such narrow stems! They’re delicate! They are mortal enemies of the spilly drinker.

Fill the bottom with ice, and you’ve got a happy, continually chilled glass. The set includes four traditionally shaped glasses with cubed bases that are not only functional but look cool too. You, and even me, will not spill or break a glass in these unless you’ve had far, far too much.

These are available exclusively Red Envelope, a lovely gift site with some fantastic gifts for anyone on your list. Set of four, $64 plus shipping.

Post from: EveryJoe

Are you a spilly drinker?