Tovolo Sphere Ice Molds - Set of 2

I unwrapped the molds, washed them by hand, filled them up to just BELOW the line with filtered water from my fridge door, placed one in my deep freeze and one in my upright side-by-side freezer, and a few hours later I had these little tools figured out.The sphere from the mold in the colder (-10 degree F) deep freezer was a little "uglier". It was ice and it chilled my whiskey, but it was more cracked and had little white crystals all over the outside of the sphere.The ice sphere from the mold in my slightly warmer (exactly 0 degrees F) upright freezer was prettier, more clear, and had none of the little fuzzies all over it.The spheres sometimes crack a little along a seam when I pour my scotch over it, but the spheres don't break apart on me. They stay whole and melt very slowly in my Laphraoig preserving the taste and rich brassy color. They even look cool with my Lagavulin and my Glemorangie (lighter colored whiskies), and these spheres work WAY better than whiskey stones.If you care about having crystal clear picture perfect spheres every single time, if you cannot tolerate cracks in your ice, if you're posing with your ice spheres for some centerfold in some monthly dram drinkers publication or making a movie, then maybe you want to spend $80 on one of those molds that comes with it's own stainless cooler.But for this price tag, these products are very satisfying! They are easy to use (make sure and do not fill all the way to the line!), and they create a nice looking and very effective ice sphere that outperforms whiskey stones in providing long lasting cooling to your favorite whiskies or cocktails without diluting the flavors you want.

Sometimes I like to sip whiskey on the rocks on a hot day or to bring the proof of the alcohol down slightly but I don't like a watered down drink. I currently have 5 ice cube molds and 4 ice ball molds in my freezer. The ice sphere is my favorite. You see, ice as a sphere melts slower than ice as a cube. Why? Simple science. A sphere made of ice has less surface area in contact with the liquid in the glass than a traditional cube while allowing for the most possible volume. This allows for a slow, somewhat controlled dilution of your bourbon without watering it down. A little bit of dilution will open up the whiskey you're drinking and expose more flavors that may have been hidden behind the higher concentration of alcohol.The Tovolo Ice Sphere Mold is the best ice sphere mold I've tried to date. I like that they are individual molds. Others that I have in my freezer are trays, and while they work just fine, they tend to leave a "saturn ring" around the middle of the ball because of the way the tray is constructed. With the Tovolo mold, you don't get that ring. These are also the largest ice sphere molds I've found. They fill a double old fashioned glass perfectly. I haven't timed how fast they melt but I'd say it's easily an hour. It's real easy to make ice balls using these molds. Just be aware that where it says "fill to this line" on the mold it means to the ridge in the mold not the wavy line which is right where "fill to this line" is written. Filling to the wavy line over-fills the mold.I have 2 sets of these molds in my freezer (4 molds total) and make ice spheres in batches. I read somewhere that people had difficulty removing the ice spheres. For whatever reason, I get lucky with 2 of the 4 molds and the ice sphere sticks to the silicone top and is ridiculously easy to pop out. With the other 2 molds, the ice sphere gets stuck in the plastic bottom and requires running under tap water to warm the mold enough to melt the ice a fraction of a centimeter to release it. Here's a tip if you have to run under water - remove the silicone top and flip the mold upside down so the exposed ice is facing down. Now tilt at a 45 degree angle and run under the water, allowing the water to hit the middle "waistline" of the mold. Rotate the mold so you effectively warm the entire outside to loosen the sphere within. Using this method will get the sphere out but more importantly will keep the water from hitting the ice and melting it. You'll retain a nice sphere shape this way.

In the life of the average whiskey drinker, "Good Ice" might not be the first thing that comes to mind in quality drinkcraft. But, the type and characteristics of the ice you use can have a major impact on the taste and enjoyment of your drink. And since most whiskey drinkers like their firewater without mixers, you're left with drinking the stuff neat, or on the rocks. Thus, a drink with only two ingredients:WhiskeyIceAnd now you see how one will inevitably consider ways to improve on how they bring the second ingredient to bear in their libation of choice. Most drinkers eventually find a bottle or style of whiskey that suits them, rendering #1 solved. And while there are those of us who are always curious and trying new bottles of the brown stuff, one can't simply think of whiskey ALL day (though I've certainly tried).Enter, accompanied by fog machines and probably lasers, the Tovolo Ice Sphere. The goal of an ice sphere is performing 3 roles in a glass of whiskey:Keep the drink chilledMelt slowly, thus maintaining said chill while keeping dilution to a minimumLook super sweetThese Tovolo spheres do a thricely great job of tackling that to-do list. These bad boys turn out perfectly round spheres of ice that chill a glass of the brown stuff nicely, while dissolving slow enough to last through a second pour (don't you JUDGE me, internet). The molds come in two pieces: the clear plastic bottom, and a silicone top. The plastic bottom gets filled with water to a marked fill line, and you insert the silicone top. The silicone top has rounded sides that form the top half of the sphere and push the water upward into the sphere shape. The top has a small hole in the center so if you overfilled the excess water comes out on top of the mold. The only trick is to insert the top slow enough that water doesn't come spurting out the top, but unless you're slamming it home you've got nothing to worry about. These bad boys go in the freezer, and in a few hours you're ready to enjoy. The silicone top is flexible, which makes removing the ice from the mold easy.We've had our set for over a year with no sign of wear. Durable enough in my opinion, and at this price point if anything happened we'd just buy a new set. Highly recommended.Rating: 4.3 out of 5 Tasty Whiskeys.