warning: i am aware this is very extra LMAO but worth it if you appreciate the aesthetic ☺️ directions: - fill up a small cooler with your amount of distilled water (you can use bottled water or boiled water) - let the cooler sit in your freezer WITHOUT THE LID/CAP on for 12 - 48 hours, depending on how much water you put in - make sure your water from your cooler has not frozen completely!! the water that is left contains all the sediments that make your ice cloudy (explanation at the bottom) - take the cooler out of the freezer and place it upside down on a baking sheet and let it sit for ~5 minutes for it to fall down or you can tap it, the sheet will catch all the excess water that hasn’t frozen yet - use a serrated knife to carefully cut the ice on top and pour out the access water - use a serrated knife to cut the ice into big and little cubes! tips and explanation: 🤓 - we’re following the “directional freezing” method; for example, when you look at a frozen lake, the ice that’s formed on top is EXTREMELY CLEAR while there’s still water below it— we’re just trying to recreate that - by using an opened cooler, we are kinda recreating the frozen lake—through insulating all the sides except the top, we are forcing the water to be frozen top down instead of bottom up (like normal ice cubes do) - impurities in your water are what make the ice cloudy and/not clear and so by forcing the water to freeze downwards, the impurities are still trapped in the liquid state leaving behind CLEAR ICE (!!!) - *** boiling water will get rid of a large percentage of the impurities but not ALL, doing this is extra but it leaves you with perfect ice - storing: store the clear ice in a ziploc bag or container in the freezer - avoiding cracks: allow the ice to rest for a few minutes at room temp before putting it into your drinks to avoid cracks in the ice - I got my mini cooler on amazon! - for about 3 bottles of water (16.9oz each), I froze it for 18 hours #ice #cocktails #mixology #drinks #coffee