Cocktails: The Right Ice

[joewmis]

I find that the most fun ice for cocktails is obtained by breaking off pices from a large block of ice. Get a big tupperware container, fill it with filtered or distilled water, and freeze it. When you have a party, keep the large block in or near the sink, and chop/chip pieces off as you need them. The largest chunks will melt more slowly than an equal volume of smaller cubes, and will cool the drink longer. Enjoy!

[artifacting]

Large cubes melt slower because they have a SMALLER surface area.

[estrunk72]

Ummm . . . you might want to re-think that. Surface area is the measure of how much exposed area a solid object has, expressed in square units. Larger objects are going to have larger surface areas.

[slapahapadappy]

When we are talking about surface area we are talking about the combined outside area of the cubes. Several small cubes will have a much greater surface area than one or two large cubes, thus the group of smaller cubes will melt faster.

A 1" cube has a surface area of 6" (1x6) whereas a bunch (say 10) of 1/4" cubes have a combined surface area of 15" (.25x6x10). The smaller cubes will have a greater surface area while the single large cube (smaller area) will melt much slower.

[k2554]

Specifically, it's because they have a smaller surface area to volume ratio.

A small cube has a higher area:volume ratio, so a greater fraction of it is exposed at any given time, hence faster melting.