Post #748474 by JustinIce on Sun, Aug 2, 2015 4:57 PM

On 2015-07-23 15:03, AceExplorer wrote:
But much (maybe not all) of this "nugget ice" is so soft you can easily squish it between your thumb and forefinger. It is made in a way that it is both light and soft, and it is surprisingly porous. I say this based on personal observations; I frequent restaurants where they use that kind of ice in their soda fountains. But I do not prefer it for cocktails at all because it does melt fast, and it waters drinks down much quicker. Ice is primarily a cooling agent before it is a dilution agent, although reasonable dilution does play an important role in cocktails.

Well-worded from AceExplorer. I work in the building where the team is developing the Opal nugget ice maker, so I've been fortunate to do lots of taste testing. Tiny ice flakes are compacted then extruded, producing nuggets which are more than 50% air (safe and fun to chew). For cocktails and drinks, the trick is to make your cocktail very cold to slow the melting, or make it strong to compensate. Nugget ice is all about the mouth-feel and crunchable texture.

Opal's crowdfunding campaign launched last week and quickly met it's goal. Units will be delivered in July of next year, but there's a big discount off the $499 retail price for pre-ordering on Indiegogo. Here's the link with more information on the product: http://igg.me/at/getopal/x/9650218

FirstBuild shares the project development and takes feedback if you have ideas: https://firstbuild.com/JBerg/opal-nugget-ice-maker/activity/