Artisan Ice | CHOW BELLA | t Café Ice Cubist Meet the man who makes the rocks in all your favorite cocktails. BY REBECCA RHOADES W hen The Gladly opened in late 2013, the restaurant was lauded for its innova- tive cocktails. A particularly crowd-pleasing element of its beverage experience was its signature ice balls. Using a special press, staff would craft sparkling spheres of ice right at your table. “[The ice balls] were a really cool way to elevate drinks, and we were one of the few places that was doing something like that. Everybody was incredibly interested in them,” says Kurtis Williams, beverage manager for The Gladly and its sister eatery, Citizen Public House. “At the time, nobody was making clear ice here. We were outsourcing it from other states, bringing it in from Las Vegas and cutting it down ourselves with chainsaws.” Williams knew there had to be a better — and safer — way to get custom ice, and with the Valley’s cocktail scene on the rise, he was inspired to start a craft ice business that would supply superior ice products to bars and restaurants. In 2016, Williams opened Artisan Ice, which offers high-quality, extra-dense, extra-clear custom ice cubes, ice balls, and other ice products. “The first two to three years were hard 24 because craft ice wasn’t standard in a lot of cocktails here,” he recalls. “I had to convince people that this was going to be a trend and explain to them why they needed it.” Kurtis Williams of Artisan Ice. As with diamonds, ice is judged by its clarity, density, size, and cut, all of which add to the overall quality and appearance of the cocktail. This is especially important in cities such as Phoenix, where the tap water is known for being hard. High in minerals and impurities, it can taste salty or bitter and can even exhibit a less-than-pleasant odor. When frozen, hard water becomes cloudy, and the impurities can result in cubes that melt quicker or fall apart easily. “Ice needs to be pure, dense, and slow- melting, so it won’t pollute the cocktail,” Williams says. “Some whiskeys, for example, are upwards of hundreds of dollars a pour, and if you’re going to put an ice cube in it, it better be the cleanest, purest, densest ice that you can find.” Aaron DeFeo, a partner in Arizona Cocktail Weekend and the co-owner of award-winning cocktail lounge Little Rituals, notes, “The quality of ice is very important in a city like Phoenix that has very hard water, and Kurtis’ ice is pretty much free of impurities.” DeFeo adds, “Aside from the aesthetics — everyone probably thinks it looks better to have a clear ice cube in their drink— if a customer orders a very rare whiskey, and you pour it over a fuzzy, dense white ice cube that crumbles as soon as you touch it, I don’t think he or she is going to be thrilled with that purchase. There is definitely a qualitative effect of having pure ice.” To produce its crystalline cubes, Williams’ company uses large-scale machines called Clinebells that form 300-pound blocks of ice from water that is filtered and agitated for three days. This forces the air and impurities to rise to the surface and leaves the remainder of the block shimmering and transparent. “You’ll notice that your ice at home or in your refrigerator has a starburst pattern in the middle. That’s because the ice freezes from all directions and pushes everything toward the center,” Williams says. “Our ice is clear because it freezes unidirectionally, from the bottom, and the water >> p 26 JULY 21ST–JULY 27TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
