I was tagging along with my husband on a bourbon-shopping expedition to Good Bottle last weekend when I spied something interesting for sale: artisanal ice cubes. Not ice cube trays, mind you, but actual cubes of frozen water—the kind served in drinks at top craft cocktail bars. Made by Davis-based Gläce Luxury Ice, the 2-inch cubes and 2-inch spheres come individually wrapped and are sold, five to a package, in a handsome black tin cylinder for $15. Christopher Sinclair, Bottle Shop’s owner, explains the allure of artisanal, large-format ice cubes: “First, it looks really pretty,” he says. “It’s perfectly clear, like you’d get at a bar with an ice program. The water is 100 percent pure, so you don’t get that funky freezer flavor. And because they’re clear, the ice is more dense, so it melts more slowly and evenly than an ice cube from your freezer.” Bigger cubes, better cocktails—got it. Sinclair, who worked as a bartender at The Red Rabbit, Jungle Bird, La Cosecha and Kasbah before opening Good Bottle a year ago in downtown Sacramento, says his best ice customers are lobbyists from the Capitol nearby.
Good Bottle is at 1123 11th St.; (916) 309-4868; goodbottleshop.com
