The folks at Air & Water were kind enough to offer a number of bloggers one of their icemakers (I got the AI-100SS it appears).? I figured “What the heck, I’ll try that!”? In my old house, I was always short on ice, and though I have a rather prolific icemaker now in my fridge I was curious how it’d work for (perhaps) parties or tailgating.

The first thing that surprised me was its size.? I could tell you in inches, or centimeters, or whatever, but y’all are reading this blog due to booze, so here it is in booze bottles.

By the way, I hate the wax seal on Ransom Old Tom Gin

It is as wide as a bottle of Ransom Old Tom Gin.

It is as tall as a liter bottle of Pimm’s #1.

It is as deep as a bottle of Voyant chai creme liqueur.

It’s a bit heavy, but I didn’t have anything to compare that too.? Sorry!? (Not really actually sorry.)? A lot of the stainless steel was covered in blue plastic wrap that was a pain in the butt to take off.? Maybe I was just missing something.? That happens a lot.

Now I want a Pimm's Cup

“Geez SeanMike, that’s great and all,” you say, “but how does it work?”

Well, I’ll tell you.? Also, I imagine you having a nasally nerd voice.? Ha ha!

Basically, on the inside there are rows of little metal prongs.? You fill up the water to a certain level, select the thickness of ice that you’d like, and 6 or so minutes later (depending on the thickness you selected) you’d have your first batch.

I wouldn’t suggest really using the first batch, however.? Even at maximum thickness it tended to be melt quickly, but that might be because the inside of the icemaker isn’t very cold at first.? It takes it quite a while to cool off enough to keep ice solid, and during that time if you’re not careful the ice will melt and refreeze into a larger mass.

I need more room in my fridge so I can open this

The ice that is formed looks like a thimble.? That surprised the heck out of me when I first saw it but as I thought about it I realized it’s how the ice forms.? Even at the thickest they are not much bigger than the end of my thumb.? Given that the current movement in icing straight liquor such as whiskeys is using one large block of ice (I have a very nice ice cube tray I now use for that courtesy of Cocktail Kingdom, because Greg Boehm graciously gave it to me) I wouldn’t suggest using it for that.

EXCEPT…well, sometimes you just want to add a bit of water to your whiskey.? Like, sometimes for scotch, I guess.? I never know when it’s proper or not.? In that case, using one or two of these would be okay.? Just know it’s going to melt in no time flat.

Okay, okay, how about making cocktails?

Stirring – I got a lot more dilution in my cocktail stirring, and it seemed to get cold pretty quickly.? It’s not a bad thing, but you’ve got to mind your timing – it is NOT the same as using harder ice.? It’s more like using the bagged ice you get in a grocery store.? Your mileage may vary, of course.? I don’t stir my drinks that often (I don’t care what you think, shuddup) but it was feasible to use it for that.

Shaking - I cannot recommend that unless you’re going for a blender-less version of a slushy.? The ice broke down and disintegrated in no time.

A friend of mine was much more excited about the icemaker than I was.? She lives in the same building as me, just ten stories higher, and can’t stand the ice her fridge makes.? This lets her make ice with filtered water, which she likes a lot.? I’d thought about using it to try to make tonic ice or something but I was worried about messing it up.

I found the icemaker useful for non-alcoholic drinks as well.? Never did get a chance to take it tailgating but I think my next opportunity to tailgate will be in December in Pittsburgh so I probably won’t need a lot of ice there…

If you’ve used it, feel free to give your thoughts on it!