Can anyone recommend somewhere to get whiskey stones from?
I'm open to eBay, and there are a bunch of options on for about $10-$20…but don't want to regret going cheap and then having them spoil my bourbon…or throat/stomach for that matter :) Just want to see if anyone has any experience purchasing them on eBay…
Cheers!
Ive tried them also, they don't get cold enough and don't stay cold long enough. They just make your drink heaps heavier and overall I was very disappointed, back to ice!
Yep. Can also confirm the stones do not work very well.
They wont cool your drink more than a few degrees cause while they have thermal mass they have no Transition heat like ice does (ie latent heat stored in the ice that has be transferred to the molecules to transition them from Solid to liquid). Transition heat is where the vast majority of the cooling effect of ice comes from.
Why do you want to cool your Whisky anyway? All it'll do is reduce the flavour! If it's too strong, add a splash of water.
Too strong? Haha :) I like it slightly chilled, depending on the whiskey. The stones were my idea to keep it strong.
So now you can exercise and drink at the same time, brilliant!
Ah ok…that's too bad….good advice though, I appreciate it…maybe I should pass for now then.
I put all my grog in the freezer, means it wont melt the ice when I add it … at least not at the rate I drink it
don't drink a nice whiskey from the freezer. you lose all the flavour.
Never said it was nice, its got an alcohol % and its cold … tick
Let me introduce you to an all time Australian favourite, the goon sack.
Frozen grapes do the trick for me. You can eat it later too.
i use a similar trick -frozen wine. You can drink the wine later too.
I like scrimshaw's idea.
I'm not a whiskey drinker at all though, so I can't vouch for this idea working optimally for whiskey enjoyment… but another option is to buy a Japanese rock ice ball maker off ebay or wherever else you can find them cheap.
http://cocktails.about.com/od/mixology/f/make_iceball.htm
and google image search examples
I'm keen to get a ice ball mould myself but I might just wait to buy it while in Japan one day. I frequent Jap bars in Sydney and they serve these ice balls in my drink. Love them. They melt at a much slower rate than regular ice cubes and keep your drink icy cold til the end. Minimal dilution :)
I am still a believer in no ice in the whiskey and just use a drop or two of water in there to break it up.
But I guess if you wanted to chill it a bit try putting a glass in the freezer for an hour or two to cool the glass rather than diluting the whiskey too much.
This
Cold whisky tightens up and you lose all the flavour.
I always wrap my hands around my whisky for a few minutes before i enjoy it. It opens up even more flavour
someone said freezing grapes is good but maybe that was for wine?
If you have room, you could keep a glass or two in the freezer.
A tumbler has thermal mass down the bottom to cool your whiskey and thin side walls allowing your hand to warm the top.
It won't work as well as ice, but it could be worth a try.
we tryed stones at home (bought cheapies off a deal site), they didnt do anything noticeable AND left a residue from the stone so i dont recommend.
Just store your whisky and whisky glasses in the freezer. It doesn't freeze, the alcohol content is too high. So your whisky is just -5C or whatever your freezer is set to. It'll warm pretty quickly so if you want to drink it at 5C just wait a minute or two.
This makes the whole experience of the whiskey worse in my (and many others') opinion.
Yes, this advice isn't for the kind of person who thinks you have to drink whisky a certain way. It's for people who want their whisky cold.
idiots, you mean?
@didsburydan: Yes, I think the people who get precious and start insulting people over how to drink whisky aren't being their smartest when they do so.
I have got steel one….Got from free with a bottle of glenfiddich. Seems to work quite well
Drink it neat or with a drop of clean water. Or if you must have ice,get some 2" silicone ice trays which will melt slower at least.
I just use a larger ice cube, it doesn't melt as fast and lasts a fair while.
ALWAYS drink whiskey at room temperature. If you want to add a few drops of water thats fine, it sometimes helps. But ice is the devil when appreciating whiskey.
If you want to drink cheap whiskey with ice to get drunk then no problem.
Tried the Whiskey rocks and they really don't do much. As outlined above, their thermal transfer is no-where near ice.
One thing that you can do is get some good thermal glasses, like the Bodum type from DJs. They are not cheap! but if I put ice in any of my drinks, it is still there at the end. The cold does not seep through the glass itself, so the ice lasts for an amazingly long time. Highly recommend this for any ice in drink enthusiasts ;-)
I've used whisky stones and found them to be useless, something that I've considered though is making whisky ice cubes although I've never actually done it.
Mixing half water and half 40% whisky (80 proof) should bring it down to 20% (40 proof) and so it should freeze at roughly -10 degrees celcius. Meaning that you can add ice to cool your whisky while diluting it as little as possible.
i hope you would only ever do this with something cheap
I'm actually giving it a go now with some Johnnie Walker Red out of curiosity but I wouldn't dare do it with a nice whisky.
In saying that I'd also never mix whisky, it only makes sense to do it with the whisky you intend on drinking.
http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/76120/24337/image.jpg
/\ proof of concept, also introducing rekabkram's (soon to be) world famous Whisky icy poles. To paraphrase Cookie Monster 'om nom nom nom nom'
Thanks Ozbargain! Had no idea that such a thing existed.
For future reference, a backslash will escape the hash symbol (which makes the following paragraph a heading) and you will be able to hashtag to your heart's content - making your username very relevant.
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Reduce Drink Dilution With Big-Arsed Ice Cubes http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/07/reduce-drink-dilution-w…
Dan Murphys actually has them for quite cheap… I have bought some from there. I also have whisky stones from ebay. Neither work!! They don't cool down the whisky at all. My recommendation is to buy a cask strength bottle (like glengoyne) and pop a bit of ice in it. or buy a peaty whisky which (in my opinion) loves a drop of water (ice).