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Ice Ball Machine - the next round of drinks

By Darren Quick
February 05, 2010
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The Ice Ball Mold turns an ugly chunk of ice into a spherical thing of beauty
Ice Ball Mold ice gravity = ice sphere
The Ice Ball Mold turns an ugly chunk of ice into a spherical thing of beauty

Ice cubes are so passé. We’ve already seen them challenged in their drink cooling duties by Sippin’ Rocks and now there's a new threat looming. The Ice Ball Mold transforms an irregular shaped chunk of ice into an icy sphere, which its proponents say are more desirable than cubes because they melt more slowly due to their smaller surface area - thereby keeping your drink cooler and less diluted for longer.

The device doesn’t require any power to run. Briefly heat the top and bottom pieces of the aluminum mold in warm water, place a chunk of ice roughly the right size between the two heavy pieces and then let gravity do the rest. The Ice Ball Mold can apparently churn out 30-40 ice balls an hour, but be sure to use the device over a drip tray of some sort since there is no reservoir in the mold to hold the excess water.

Ice Ball Mold ice gravity = ice sphere

Purveyors of fine Scotch Whisky, Macallan, apparently came across the Ice Ball Mold in Japan and have acquired the exclusive rights to the device for a few years. However, if you’re after one of the devices without the Macallan branding emblazoned across the side they are available from the Japan Trend Shop in 30, 55, 65 and 80mm sizes.

But be warned, ice sphere producing ability doesn’t come cheap. While the 30mm unit is available for a not too unreasonable US$184, the price jumps substantially for the larger sizes. US$1,003 for the 55mm, $1,085 for the 65mm, US$1,113 for the 70mm, and US$1,649 for the 80mm.

NOTCOT via boing boing

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Around The HomeWhiskyScotchIceAluminum
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Darren Quick
Darren's love of technology started in primary school with a Nintendo Game & Watch Donkey Kong (still functioning) and a Commodore VIC 20 computer (not still functioning). In high school he upgraded to a 286 PC, and he's been following Moore's law ever since. This love of technology continues as Managing Editor of New Atlas.
14 comments
Ingvar
If the ice ball melts slower than an ice cube doesn\'t also cool the drink less? Isn\'t it the heat absorption from the drink that melts the ice?
I think it is and this makes the ice balls not very good drink coolers.
If you want something that cools your drink well but doesn\'t dilute it I would suggest pink plastic elephants filled with salt water.
windykites
An interesting fact was pointed out to me the other day. It is always better to put more rather than less ice in your drink. More ice cools you drink quicker, and therefore melts more slowly. Actually I just remembered, I say no ice when having a fizzy drink from a tap, otherwise I end up paying for a load of ice and not much drink.
DaveSpicer
\"Less diluted for longer\" I\'ll believe, but \"cooler for longer\" isn\'t so clear to me. If the ice ball absorbs heat from the surrounding liquid more slowly, the liquid won\'t ever get as cold as faster-melting ice would make it. The article could use a graph comparing the temperature and dilution of two drinks, one with ice cubes and one with these things instead. It\'d make a nice example for a thermodynamics college course :-)
Abraam Cookman
Cool idea, but the claims of spherical ice balls being superior to cubes are extremely dubious, IMHO. That, and they seriously expect people to pay $184 for a small chunk of billet aluminum that\'s worth about 30 bux, even with the machining time and other parts installed (ie; the two dowels and the little mold release lever on the lower half). Looks easy enough to make, maybe I\'ll bash one out with some scraps at work to try it...
JasonTrujillo
Haha, my 13 year old daughter just finished her science fair project comparing the rate of ice melt for constant volume shapes. Yes, the sphere does melt slower than a cube but does not result in a cooler drink... sorry.
Also, we made a 30mm sphere mold (plus the molds for a cube and rectangular prism) with ~$20 worth of urethane. Perhaps I should put this on Ebay, I could undercut the market.
Either way making 1 ice cube per freeze is a rather inefficient process...
dariusvons
seems pointless... totally pointless novelty. unless I\'m studying behavior of whater or maybe it\'s structure in the for of Ice, why would I spend anything to have sperical ice?
Ed
The freezer in my kitchen fridge does not pump out ice cubes big enough to be used in this device...and I suspect that most people\'s fridges don\'t either!
CarolinadeWitte
In Japan, they are meticulous about their cocktails, especially in the (many) high-end bars. They have a dedicated \'ice boy\', who (honestly!!) labourously carves ice-cubes from large blocks of ice. Ice cube trays or ice machines don\'t work. They use only the clearest ice, which must be frozen in large blocks in order to BE clear. In the end, although rather larger than \'standard\' ice cubes, they look nearly the same, but totally clear. They believe each element of the cocktail must be perfect, from the glass it\'s served in, to the ice to the booze and any mixers. Of course, they don\'t use tap water to prepare the ice. Sometimes it\'s brought in from mountain streams, other times it is at least filtered and purified. Yes, one pays \'through the nose\' for these drinks, but Japanese businessmen often bring their clients to these places, and insist the client have as many drinks as he wishes. (When I say \'expensive\', I mean the cheapest of these drinks would be about $30 American. And, one had BEST tip the barman appropriately.) Sadly, few of these clubs allow women, so I\'ve mainly had to go on descriptions by others. (Of course, quite a few of the clubs ALSO don\'t allow \'foreigners\' either. At least if they\'re not with a Japanese person.)
Herbal Orgasm
LoL silly you can make any size by rolling square ice cube in hands.
Vlad Trusevich
Clearly, most people here don\'t understand the point! It\'s not about being efficient or fast. When you drink $50 to $100 scotch, and take it seriously - you don\'t really care how long it takes to prepare one ball of clear ice from scratch. To get the best experience everything should be perfect. And if it takes $500 machine to prepare one ball of ice that will melt slower - so be it.
Some people prefer luxury cars, when geo metro can take you from point a to point b.
Although it should be quite simple to make this particular machine for cheaper. Even if custom made from scratch. It\'s suche a simple design.
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