I love this comment. On one hand I don't hate the idea that this exists and it's an obscure aesthetic thing. If someone wants to make super fancy cocktails then fine, whatever. On the other hand,

“Shut up and drink your whisk(e)y neat like God and the Irish meant it to be consumed. The water is already in it.”

Love it

The real question is why does anyone think this is what they need in life.

Sometimes you want to entertain and square ice cubes are a nice touch

Noe that the water can just be tap, and the equipment isn't super fancy. If the water looks clear, you can make clear ice from it.

It's called directional freezing, you stick water in freezer insulated on all sides so that it freezes from the top down instead of outside in.

If you have larger ice, you'll see the white stuff is in the middle, the last area to freeze. Directional freezing causes that to be at an end instead of in the center, and you either pull out the ice before the end freezes, ideally, or cut off the end.

I have an ice mold that doess this and it provides break off points to break the clear ice off the unclear ice.

It does take a while though and the bulky insulation takes a lot of room in the freezer.

You just need tap water, a plastic insulated lunchbox and a timer.

definitely just for astethic reasons

You don't need specialized equipment. It's easy enough to be done at home.

I don't know, I've also heard that a few drops of water "opens up" the whiskey. My dad was an alcoholic who loved whiskey. He would order it with a few drops of water. Ice would do the same thing.

Not such fancy equipment. I used to make it in a lunchbox cooler with our very hard tap water; that eventually cracked but I have been rocking one of these for a decade now.

https://www.clearlyfrozen.com/

All you need is directional freezing. My ice comes out crystal clear in big ol' blocks like that.

To be fair - I would charge $5 a tray too. It takes a day & a half and space in my freezer. But it is an easy, cheap, and fun hobby

Square ice cubes made with clarified water are a real pain to make at home unless you have all the tools

If you like to entertain, it's much easier to just buy the cubes and store them in the fridge.

Block ice can cost that. But it also lasts 10 days in the right cooler.

Here in Europe you'd see expensive SUVs, like Porsches and Range Rovers, parked outside the Aldi all the time. Lot's of rich people are penny pinchers especially old money who inherited their money. They would probably buy these ice cubes if they have to impress their friends with their Japanese whiskey that they only drink when guests are at their home.

Packaging makes sense, too. We’ve been buying bagged ice forever. In this case, your ice has stricter quality control.

I have no need for this, but there’s clearly a market for it. I can’t disparage anyone for finding a market.

If you are into making fancy cocktails then you can get into making fancy ice

Frozen water... 🤔

That's a hell of a lot different than buying a box of 4 cubes.

ONCE AND FOR ALL!!

which is basically tapwater that is either reverse osmosis, or distilled.