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The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

priceonomics.com

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Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#61

Post by SDGT »

paulannesley wrote: post #28

This brand is ridiculous, but… Crystal clear ice cubes look great in a drink, and are far more difficult to make than “filling a 50-cent plastic tray with tap water and throwing it in the freezer”. The author of the article seems to avoid pointing this out. See https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/danprovost/neat-ice-kit and https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wintersmiths/the-ice-ba...

I make clear ice cubes two ways.

1. Boil water twice beforehand

2. Strap a vibrating "toy" to the tray and put it on a solid flat surface in the freezer.

Neither of these solutions ended up costing me more than $20 to make as many ice cubes as I can fit. The hardest part is finding ice cube trays that don't suck.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#62

Post by jrockway »

dbrian wrote: post #35
habosa wrote: post #18

The joke is that for very nice liquor (whiskey especially) you should definitely not be adding ice, no matter how "deserving" the ice is. If you want the drink cold, chill the liquor itself or even the glass. In hindsight, fuck it. There is no point in dissecting this, it is what it is. It's ice for people who want to spend money just to spend it.

Adding a bit of water brings out flavors you don't experience neat. It's a personal preference. http://youtu.be/ajqd62fE73E?t=6m23s

I've heard this, but I don't really buy it. The whisky is already diluted at bottling time, unless it's "cask strength".

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#63

Post by habosa »

dbrian wrote: post #35
habosa wrote: post #18

The joke is that for very nice liquor (whiskey especially) you should definitely not be adding ice, no matter how "deserving" the ice is. If you want the drink cold, chill the liquor itself or even the glass. In hindsight, fuck it. There is no point in dissecting this, it is what it is. It's ice for people who want to spend money just to spend it.

Adding a bit of water brings out flavors you don't experience neat. It's a personal preference. http://youtu.be/ajqd62fE73E?t=6m23s

I've definitely seen serious whiskey drinkers add a little water to break the oils at the surface and release flavors like you said. I was more commenting on putting a giant spherical ice cube in your whiskey. But again, to each his own and there is no "right" way to do anything.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#64

Post by pavel_lishin »

tjr wrote: post #13
opendais wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I should start selling Läce Oxygen, the better breathing experience certified to be fresh as it was extracted directly from a sealed room filled with plants. Don't breathe secondhand air from the mouths of peasants! Get Läce Oxygen! :/ EDIT: I was kidding, folks. ^^;

What kind of plants? I can see that idea working.

He'll use my line of high-end oxygen-producers. I can start him off with some Bambü, which produces a very nice texture, or we can skip directly to Alø, which has some very nice medicinal properties as well.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#65

Post by baddox »

louthy wrote: post #34
tmuir wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gold plated cables actually serve a purpose, although the average consumer does not have a need for them. In a studio environment, where cables are frequently plugged and unplugged, the gold plating protects the contacting surfaces, extending their lives.

I'm not an expert, and absolutely willing to be proven incorrect here. But I thought that gold was a better conductor, and that's why they're better for audio cables (less resistance). Surely the fact that gold is a soft metal would be a reason to not use it for reasons of 'extending lives'?

I always thought it was because gold does not oxidize or corrode very easily.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#66

Post by DanBC »

opendais wrote: post #26
DanBC wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know that Oxygen bars are a thing, right? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_bar

A fact that continues to depress and disturb me. However, they don't use plants. They use machines. So I was trying not to directly reference something real.

You could totally make high class oxygen by using plants. It's a business. You just need to be brave / shameless enough to charge a ridiculous amount for plant generated oxygen.

I think this element of "I cannot bring myself to do this, even though some people are so rich they will not miss the money" stops some people from starting businesses.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#67

Post by desigooner »

habosa wrote: post #18

The joke is that for very nice liquor (whiskey especially) you should definitely not be adding ice, no matter how "deserving" the ice is. If you want the drink cold, chill the liquor itself or even the glass. In hindsight, fuck it. There is no point in dissecting this, it is what it is. It's ice for people who want to spend money just to spend it.

I put a single cube of ice in my scotch / bourbon simply because the dram "opens up" over time and the taste evolves with each sip, so to speak.

On the other hand, Chilled glasses are a pet peeve of mine.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#68

Post by DanBC »

danohuiginn wrote: post #15

This is, of course, ridiculous. Still, there's logic to it: find some mass-market component that is used in a luxury service, and provide a high-end alternative. The kind of idio^H^H^H^Hcustomers who want luxury certainly don't want it contaminiated by something from Walmart, regardless of the actual quality. It's the same reason as for those gold-plated cables for audiophiles.

But the high end drink chiller exists, and it is called "whisky stones" or similar.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#69

Post by ceejayoz »

paulannesley wrote: post #28

This brand is ridiculous, but… Crystal clear ice cubes look great in a drink, and are far more difficult to make than “filling a 50-cent plastic tray with tap water and throwing it in the freezer”. The author of the article seems to avoid pointing this out. See https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/danprovost/neat-ice-kit and https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wintersmiths/the-ice-ba...

Did you read? The author of the article details the process involved, the cost for crystal-clear ice blocks, etc.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#70

Post by DanBC »

Alupis wrote: post #32
tmuir wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gold plated cables actually serve a purpose, although the average consumer does not have a need for them. In a studio environment, where cables are frequently plugged and unplugged, the gold plating protects the contacting surfaces, extending their lives.

Are you sure? Gold is one of the most soft/malleable metals used to plate connectors? (I know it's one the best best conductors). And we all know, there's no difference between the $150 hdmi cable and the $5 hdmi cable except cosmetics and perhaps some better shielding. They're all digital connections, so the signal/bits are either there or are not.

I really hope the $150 cable has much better manufacturing and inspection. Obviously that doesn't mean they're worth that much, but still.
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