Bring your own ice!
How to do it:
1. Anything that you freeze, will have a tendency to either float or sink. Try freezing your ice in at least 2 stages to get your material suspended throughout the ice. You don’t want all of your flowers/ingredients to sink to one side of your ice.
2. I use Tovolo Ice cube trays for this. The smaller trays are perfect for long drinks while the larger trays are perfect for spirit driven cocktails that are served on the rocks. They also make circular ice trays if you are looking for something really interesting. Vanilla extract ice for your next Manhattan on the rock anyone?
Benefits:
1. This technique adds visual appeal to your cocktails.
2. Can communicate the flavor profile of the cocktail to your guest
Ideas for other items frozen in ice
Herbs
Peppers
Fruit
Instead of using water, make a tea out of the ingredient you are freezing. (ie rosemary ice made by steeping rosemary in warm water, then placing a few sprigs of rosemary in the ice) As the ice melts, it contributes more flavor to the cocktail.
Let us now what types of material you used to freeze and what flavor did it incorporate in your drink?
Fancy Ice for a fancy lady 🙂 BTW I made a version of your Macadamia orgeat that turned out amazing in a Mai Tai. Vanilla bean, ginger and Macadamia nut. I replaced the Cointreau with GInger liqueur and used turbinado sugar as the sweetener. Soooooo Goood !