Post #584640 by woofmutt on Tue, Apr 12, 2011 4:07 PM

I've been able to tell the difference between tapwater ice made in the freezer from bagged ice if the home made ice has elements of the tapwater's flavor in it (the worst of these being a slight hint of chlorine) and scents or flavors from the freezer.

What I like least about home made ice is that there's often too little of it. Although my Usual Gang of Idiots all like well iced cocktails they never seem to have more than two trays of ice on hand even though they know we're planning on making drinks. (Morons!)

Smoked ice sounds cool. (Har!) I'd guess that maybe the reason the ice is smoked then refroze is to get more smoke flavor/scent into the water. A container of water might not absorb the smoke flavor the way a stew or soup would. If I were making smoked ice for a Bloody Mary I'd just experiment with adding liquid smoke to the water the ice is made from.

I wouldn't be surprised if the main reason they smoke the ice is so they can say "We actually smoke the ice!" and then the customers go "Ooooh! Aaaah! A new pleasure! A new pleasure!"