Why You Need Purified Bottled Water to Make Perfectly Clear Ice Balls

Perfectly clear ice balls in your drink are much more appealing than cloudy ones with air bubbles. Not only do they look better, but they also melt slower, making it easier for you to enjoy your drink before it gets watered down. 

If you’re searching for a fail-proof strategy to get that attractive, clear ice each and every time, purified bottled water is part of the answer. Here’s what you need to know to get those beautiful ice balls, from the experts at Spirits on Ice.

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Using purified bottled water to make clear ice balls

Unfortunately, although using tap water to make ice balls is easy, it won’t get you the attractive clear ice you’re after. The water from your tap at home is treated with chemicals so that it’s safe for you to drink. The trace deposits of minerals and tiny bits of debris can leave you with cloudy ice balls.

To get pure, clear ice, you’ll want to start the process by using bottled distilled water. Not all bottled water is distilled, so you’ll have to double-check the labeling to make sure that it is. Distilled water is necessary because the distillation process gets rid of mineral deposits and microscopic debris, which will help you avoid making cloudy ice.

However, you can’t just pour some distilled water into the silicone mold of your ice ball maker and expect to get clear ice balls. Instead, you’ll first want to boil the distilled water (twice!) and use the process of directional freezing.

What is directional freezing?

Typically, when an ice ball is cloudy, the cloudy part is in the center of the ball. That’s because all the impurities get pushed into the center of the ball as it freezes. (The center is the last part to fully freeze.) If you want an ice ball that looks fully clear, you’ll want to consider directional freezing.

Directional freezing is the process of freezing your ice on one side first so that all the cloudiness is pushed in one direction. Then you can easily just chip off the cloudy part that is pushed down to one side of the ball.

There are a few methods you can use for directional freezing:

• Slow freezing – If you simply turn up the setting in your freezer to the warmest setting, your ice mold will freeze more slowly, giving the impurities and air bubbles more time to escape into the air. This will leave you with clear ice.
• Cooler freezing – Fill ice molds with your boiled, distilled water and place them in your cooler. Fill the cooler around the ice molds with water. This will insulate the molds and allow the ice to freeze slowly from the top-down, pushing any impurities to the bottom of the ice molds. When the Spirit Ice Vice creates the ice balls, the melting process removes these impurities completely. (TIP: You’ll need to have room for an entire cooler in your freezer to use this method.)

We suggest the cooler freezing method for best results.

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Get clear ice balls every time with the Spirits on Ice ice ball machine

Of course, the easiest and fastest way to get clear ice balls every time is to use the Spirits On Ice ice ball machine in addition to the directional freezing method with purified water. Contact us online or call us at 513-932-1250 to get started with yours today.