In the USA they appreciate good ice. If you go to any regular bar and ask for a drink they will give you enough ice to keep your drink the way it should be - really cold. They do not mess around when it comes to ice. They often won’t even offer whether or not you want ice but rather deliver a glass full of ice as standard. In my humble opinion this is a great thing that should cross over the pond and be implemented in every bar and pub in the UK. I like my drinks cold. I get fed up of returning my whisky to the bartender to ask for more ice. So why is there such a reluctance to provide ice with your drink? After all it is free. So I want to make a plea for restaurant owners, publicans, night club proprietors and bar managers to get themselves an ice maker and serve me with a proper chilled drink.

Ice makers

Ice makers do exactly that - they make ice. Ice makers generally do this on a large scale. Most ice makers can be filled with water and left to produce ice cubes. This happens on a large scale and the ice maker can be left to get on with the job of making ice cubes without any further effort. The ice machine can usually make around 2kgs of ice per ice and the ice cubes feed into a storage compartment where they are kept cool and ready for use. The ice machine is usually judged by the size of the storage section with the larger sized ice maker storage compartments able to store enormous amounts of ice. The price of the ice machine is often dependant on the size of the storage section. The larger the storage section the more expensive it will be. These ice makers are often fed from the mains water and are connected to the electricity supply through a standard electricity connection. They need to be set up in an area that has enough room to accommodate it and also has a drainage facility.

Ice bucket

Making sure that your ice is kept cool at the bar is vital. There are a number of ice buckets that are designed to keep ice cool for use at the bar. The ice bucket can also be used to keep wine cool at the table. These buckets are usually made of metallic material and look particularly stylish. The design these ice buckets can be important as the give the venue a prestigious feel. The ice buckets that are designed to keep ice cubes cool at the bar are generally plastic and are made with a motif of a well known beer or beverage on the side of the bucket. These types of ice buckets are very cheap so there is no excuse for not having ice ready at the bar!

Shaun Parker has been a pub landlord for many years. He is a member of the campaign for real ale and offers advice on ice machines and ice makers to aspiring publicans. Please visit http://www.ascotwholesale.co.uk/bar_equipment/ice_makers/cid_4/