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Ice is essential to many businesses, from restaurants and bars to healthcare services and convenience stores. Did you know there is a right type of ice for beverages, preserving perishable items, and assisting in healthcare? 

With a large variety of ice types available, selecting the ideal one can be challenging. In this guide, we'll explore the different ice types.

Let’s have a look!

Understanding Ice Types

Here are some common ice types from our range of Manitowoc ice machine

Regular Cubes

Regular ice cubes are available in either a full or half-dice-sized cube.

These cubes are suitable for many applications, including cooling beverages and displaying food products.

Slow Melting: Standard cubed ice melts slower than other types, making it ideal for cocktails and mixed drinks. This ensures that the drink remains colder for longer without becoming diluted too quickly.
Versatile: Suitable for a wide range of uses, from beverages to chilling bottles and food displays.

Applications:
Bars and Nightclubs: Perfect for cocktails, spirits, and soft drinks.
Restaurants: Used in soft drinks, water glasses, and certain food presentations.

Gourmet Ice

Gourmet ice types are hard, clear ice cubes with a unique "rhomboid" shape.

They are known for their aesthetic appeal and slow melting properties, making them perfect for premium drinks and cocktails.

Benefits:
Aesthetic Appeal: Known for its crystal-clear appearance and slow melting rate, which enhances the visual appeal of drinks.
Taste Preservation: Due to its purity and slow melting, it preserves the flavor of high-end spirits and cocktails.

Applications:
Fine Dining Establishments: Ideal for premium cocktails and spirits where presentation and flavor are paramount.
Luxury Hotels: Enhances the guest experience in lounges and bars.

Nugget Ice

Nugget ice pieces are soft and chewable with a 73% ice-to-water ratio, the nuggets are ideal for hand scooping into drinks and keeping displayed food products fresh.

This ice style offers a satisfying crunch and absorbs flavours well, making it popular in beverage applications.

Benefits:
Chewable: Nugget ice is softer and chewable, preferred by customers in certain settings.
Efficient Cooling: Provides good cooling without overly diluting drinks.

Applications:
Fast Food Restaurants:  Popular in soft drinks and slushies.
Healthcare Facilities:  Preferred for patient hydration due to its chewable nature.

Flake Ice

Flake ice consists of small, soft pieces of ice with a high ice-to-water ratio.

The flakes are suitable for displaying seafood, preserving perishable items, and therapeutic uses this ice type moulds easily to any shape, making it versatile for a variety of applications.

Benefits:
Malleability: Flake ice is easy to mould around products, making it excellent for food displays.
Surface Area: Its large surface area ensures quick cooling.

Applications:
Buffet Tables: Ideal for displaying chilled items like salads and desserts.
Medical and Fish Markets: Often used to preserve perishable items due to its excellent cooling properties.

Ice plays a role in countless industries, from restaurants and bars to healthcare facilities and convenience stores. It extends beyond mere cooling; the right type of ice can elevate the presentation of beverages and prolong the freshness of perishable items.

Choosing the right ice option can be daunting, but armed with knowledge, you can make informed choices starting with understanding the characteristics of different ice types when you are selecting the ideal type.

Hopefully, your next purchase will be easier whether it is the reliable regular cubes, the elegant gourmet ice cubes for premium drinks, soft and chewable nugget ice ideal for enhancing beverages and displaying food products or the versatile flake ice that excels in preserving perishables and therapeutic applications. Whether you're crafting cocktails in a bustling bar or preserving delicate seafood in a grocery store, choosing the perfect ice ensures you're well-equipped to meet the demands of your industry and exceed expectations.

Browse through our complete list of ice machine ranges and find the perfect solution for your business needs. Whether you're in the hospitality industry, a hotel, or managing a catering service, our range of commercial kitchen equipment is built to deliver consistent performance and reliability. Discover the difference our products can make for your business today!