Sphere Ice Is the Best Ice

I don’t usually make cocktails at home; that’s my husband’s hobby.  So after we reviewed the best ice molds for cocktails, I bought our “Best Sphere”-style ice molds by Zoku for him. But I’m the one who ended up getting fanatical about this kind of ice. 

I have started putting the huge, 2.5-inch spheres of ice in every beverage I drink, all day long. Iced coffee? Yep. Flavored seltzer? You bet. Plain old ice water? Nothing plain about it, with a giant globe of ice bobbing in my glass. I feel fancy. Call it self-care. 

Here’s the thing. Cute as these ice spheres are, I would have done this exactly once if the Zoku Ice Ball Molds (about $17 for two) also weren’t incredibly easy to use. I like to treat myself, but I am also a little lazy.

The top and bottom of the mold pop apart—without much force and no need to twist—then you gently push the bottom half, made of soft silicone, and the ice pops out. Put the top half of the mold back on, and refill it at the sink through an open hole at the top. When it’s full, you flip the whole thing once to drain excess water around the rim—and miraculously, nothing drips or pours out of the sphere. Then you put it back in the freezer. The two molds fit into tight spaces, even in my crowded freezer; you can even stack them. Super simple.

I could tell you that I like these for scientific reasons, because large spheres melt slower than regular cubes, but I’d be lying if I said that was why I like them so much. They just look, for lack of a better word, cool. I can’t explain why, but somehow, that makes my beverages taste better.

Photo: Simon Gakhar, Getty Images

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