Have you received a nice liquor assortment or an alcohol gift basket as a gift, and you’d like to step up your cocktail game? Or maybe you just need some ice cubes ideas for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (March, 17) with friends? Here’s how to take your drinks to the next level using a few simple hacks.
Ice Cubes for Alcohol Gift Baskets
Floral and Herbal Ice Cubes
Beautiful floral ice cubes are an elegant way to put a little spring in your sip and make any drink blossom. From impressing your guests to seducing a romantic date, floral ice cubes will add that special touch to any occasion. And they are incredibly easy to make for something this classy!
Any edible flowers including rose petals, violets, lavender, lilacs or elder flower all work great, but you can go with all sorts of herbs too if you prefer. Just fill ice cube trays 1/3 full with water, put flowers or herbs inside and freeze. Fill with water to the top and freeze again. Doing this in two steps ensures the flower stays inside the ice without floating to the top.
Mint Ice Cubes
Herb-infused ice cubes are the perfect addition to any seasonal cocktail. Incredibly versatile, mint ice cubes are ideal for everything from seltzer to mojitos. Fill an ice cube tray with a generous amount of mint leaves, add water, and freeze. A couple of such mint-infused cubes and you don’t need a (virgin or not) post-drink breath mint!
Ice Cubes for Champagne Gift Baskets
Champagne and strawberry ice cubes
When somebody sends you a Champagne gift basket so generous you are not able to finish it all, you can easily turn your leftovers into amazing champagne and strawberry ice cubes. The perfect combination of fruit and bubbly, these are easy to make ice cubes and a great addition to a sparkling wine cocktail, white sangria, or a glass of champagne. Seriously, there’s hardly a better way to keep your drink cold without watering it down. Their strawberry flavor and pink color only add an extra bonus to the amazing flavor.
To make these at home just fill the ice cube trays with diced fresh strawberries. Carefully pour the sparkling wine of your choice over the fruit, freeze for at least 6 hours and, voila, you’re all set for the best champagne experience ever! Just so you know, the champagne ice cubes won’t freeze completely like water would, but should be solid enough to remove from the tray and use in all sorts of drinks.
Ice Cubes for Wine Gift Baskets
Fruit Ice Cubes
You received a wine gift basket right on time for the celebration but you don’t have extra 2-3 hours to chill the wine? Here’s the simple trick to chilling wine in no-time.
In an instant-gratification society, especially when it comes to poppin’ bottles, we use frozen fruit (and luckily many of us already have them in the freezer). A few pieces of frozen fruit will keep your drink cool without diluting it. Slow sippers get an extra bonus! They can enjoy a drink over a few hours and end up with booze-infused snack after the glass is empty.
There are no hard-set rules of pairing wine with fruit, though some connoisseurs swear that Prosecco goes best with frozen strawberry or pomegranate seeds. Rose is complemented best with raspberries, Chardonnay with peaches, Riesling with blackberries, Moscato with mango, Sauvignon Blanc with blueberries, and Pinot Grigio with pineapple. But feel free to mix and match, and find out what works best for you.
Ice Cubes for Vodka Gift Baskets
Lemon-infused Ice Cubes
There’s nothing that goes with vodka better than lemon and here’s how you can take your vodka drinks to a whole new level. Lemon-infused ice cubes will lemon up any vodka based cocktail without watering it down and it’s easy as 1-2-3. First, peel your lemons, or scoop the flesh out of the rind. Then blend the peeled lemons thoroughly. Lastly, freeze them in the ice trays overnight to use in any drink of your choice, from sparkling water to a classic vodka tonic.
Make sure to try any of these ice cubes hacks before saying cheers next time. Whether it’s an upcoming St. Patrick’s Day, Birthday party, housewarming or an afternoon after work drink, you are all set to step up your cocktail game!
Ready to raise a toast?
- Make sure you read these 5 Simple Tricks For A Successful Last Minute Wine Party first.
- Satisfy any of your alcohol needs here.
- Share with those who need a drink!
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