Dining | Los Angeles | Best Clubs, Celebrity News

THE MOST IMPORTANT
COCKTAIL INGREDIENT

What is the important ingredient in any cocktail?

Most people might guess good booze. After all, if you use cheap booze your drink will taste bad and you’ll get a nasty hangover, right? But any good home bartender can sweeten a stiff drink and make it palatable or use the right citrus or bitters to mask less-than-stellar alcohol.

No, the most important and overlooked ingredient in a drink is ice.

Your drink’s booze and mixers come into contact with the ice. The ice dilutes your drink and opens up its flavor. Over the years, I have had enough bartenders stress how essential ice is. One mixologist told me that his friends always hit him up to make drinks at their parties and the first thing he always tells his cohorts is buy brand new ice. He refuses to mix drinks with ice that was sitting in the cooler at last weekend’s barbecue next to the carne asada.

The folks at Essentia Water agree that good ice is key. They even created the first and only limited edition custom red and black ice machine to elevate your "ice game" when creating cocktails or drinks. Aside from the custom ice machine, Essentia also partnered with popular mixologist Elliott Clark aka Apartment Bartender to create creative holiday cocktails using Essentia ice.

"Ice is the most underrated ingredient in a cocktail,” Elliott explains. “When using poor quality ice, as it melts, it not only dilutes the drink at a faster pace, but it can also negatively affect the flavor profile of the cocktail. Why mix with premium booze if you’re not pairing it with premium ice? Essentia is my choice when making ‘premium ice.’ Its clean, smooth taste allows the true flavors of the cocktail to come through and be enjoyed."

When you hear the term, “poor quality ice,” think cloudy ice or even freezer ice.

Elliott Clark is a self-described ice snob and he says poor ice quality and freeze-variety “tap ice” can dull the flavors of spirit and mixers. He looks for clean, smooth, well-balanced water to make “premium ice” for the best cocktails.

Getting back to Essentia’s premium ice machine, the point was to bring attention to the need for premium ice. Designed by Essentia Water, the number one alkaline water sold nationally, the Essentia Premium Ice Machine creates high-quality ice—made from Essentia’s 99.9% pure water—within minutes.

It’s also important to stay hydrated while drinking, and good quality ice from the Essentia ice machine, will also help hydrate you with premium alkaline water and help prevent the nasty hangover that everyone hates.

Believe me, good ice can make or break your cocktail. And regular “tap ice” is filled with impurities, which transfers unwanted flavor to your drink and can even make your cubes melt quicker. Essentia’s premium ice ensures that your cocktails are top-notch.

Essentia Water is ionized alkaline water that has a pH of 9.5 or higher. They use a unique, proprietary three-step process that involves purification to remove contaminants and make the water 99.9% pure, the infusion of a mineral blend in trace amounts and ionization to remove bitter-tasting acidic ions. The result is a clean and smooth-tasting ionized alkaline water that provides the body with necessary hydration.

Below are winter cocktails to make at home. Whenever possible, use Essentia Water for your ice cubes and as an ingredient when making syrups. You’ll definitely appreciate what it adds to your drinks.

The Essentia(l) Spritz
Ingredients

2 oz - clear spirit of choice, like gin or vodka

Brewed Green Tea as Non-Alcoholic option

1 oz - Lemon juice
3/4 oz - Spiced-cranberry syrup

1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup Essentia water
1 cup sugar
2-3 Cinnamon sticks
2 whole clove (optional)
2 star anise (optional)

2 oz - soda water (or sparkling wine)

Spiced-cranberry Syrup Instructions: In a medium saucepan, bring all ingredients except sugar to a light simmer until spices start to release aromas and cranberries start to split. Add sugar and stir to dissolve (no need to bring to a boil). Set aside and let cool. Strain into a glass jar and save in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Prep Steps:
Combine all ingredients, except for the soda water, into a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain the drink into a Collins glass over ice, and top with soda water. Gently stir to combine and garnish with speared cranberries and a rosemary sprig.

The Overachiever
Ingredients

2 oz - Bourbon of choice
1/2 oz - Vanilla syrup

(can sometimes find pre-made / pre-batched vanilla syrup from Monin)
2-3 Vanilla pods (vanilla extract as a last resort)
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Essentia water

1 oz fresh espresso (brewed with Essentia Water)
2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Vanilla Syrup Instructions: In a medium saucepan, bring all ingredients to a light simmer until vanilla starts to release aroma. Stir to dissolve sugar (no need to bring to a boil). Set aside and let cool. Strain into a glass jar and save in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Prep Steps:
Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass, and stir with ice. Strain the drink into a rocks glass over ice, and garnish with an orange twist.

The Supercharged Hot Toddy Bar
Ingredients

2 oz Aged spirit of choice (whiskey, aged rum, reposado tequila, cognac, etc.)
0.5 oz Honey for classic Hot Toddy OR Spiced-Cranberry Syrup for Cranberry Hot Toddy OR Vanilla Syrup for Vanilla Hot Toddy

For spiced-cranberry syrup:

1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup Essentia water
1 cup sugar
2-3 Cinnamon sticks
2 whole clove (optional)
2 star anise (optional)

For vanilla syrup:

(can sometimes find pre-made / pre-batched vanilla syrup from Monin)
2-3 Vanilla pods (vanilla extract as a last resort)
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Essentia water

3-4 oz Hot Water
0.5 oz Lemon Juice

Spice-cranberry Syrup Instructions: In a medium saucepan, bring all ingredients except sugar to a light simmer until spices start to release aromas and cranberries start to split. Add sugar and stir to dissolve (no need to bring to a boil). Set aside and let cool. Strain into a glass jar and save in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Prep Steps:
On a stove, heat one cup of water (to a very light simmer is fine, you don’t want the water to be too hot). Once the water is hot, combine the aged spirit, syrup, and lemon juice into a glass mug. Top with 4-5 ounces of hot water, and stir to combine. Garnish with a lemon wheel, cinnamon stick, or speared cranberries.

Download PDF with more cocktails

Story By: Jose Martinez

Photography Courtesy Of: Essentia Water