The whiskey debate: Tropicana Bar vs. Seven Grand

(Credit: Mark Peterson)

The following questions are for whiskey drinkers only: How many ice cubes should there be in your drink? Should the level of ice match the level of alcohol? Should the glass be topped off?

It may sound pedantic, but I ask because I simply don’t understand. Recently at Tropicana Bar I was presented with a whiskey on the rocks in which the level of ice cubes towered over the actual whiskey. Politely as I could, I asked the bartender to scoop off some of the top cubes because otherwise I'd need a pickax to get at the drink. She fished them out and flashed me a withering look. I was floored; I didn't mean to cause any trouble. On the other hand, I certainly didn't ask for Mt. McKinley in a glass (though at $12, it might have been cheaper to go mountain climbing).

But this isn't just a Hollywood thing. I've been to other bars that go heavy on the ice, and I've either scooped it out myself or asked the bartender to. After all, nobody wants a drink in which the ice cubes hit their lips before the actual liquor does, do they? A glass of whiskey, top-shelf or not, should have a level of alcohol commensurate with the level of ice. Right?

A quick call to John Coltharp, the coolly erudite bartender at Seven Grand, suggested that maybe I need to, uh, chill out.

Although Seven Grand has its own unique method of ice cube production (using a machine called the Nitrogenator NX), Coltharp suggested that the heavy amounts of ice used by other bars might have something to do with the necessity of simply getting and keeping the beverage cold in a timely manner. "The best would be single pieces of ice that are hand-chipped," he said. "Ideally, the ice should melt very slowly so it doesn't dilute the flavor. That way you don't have to pound the glass in five minutes just to keep it tasting like whiskey."

But what about the local neighborhood bar, where things are less scientific?

"Most people probably don't think about it when they're serving," Coltharp said. "They'll serve without actually having the experience of tasting that specific drink. They just want to keep the drink cold with whatever ice they have on hand."

As it turns out, the more ice in a drink, the slower the ice will melt, according to Coltharp. "Regular ice has a huge surface-area-to-volume ratio, but it's already wet. The ice is actually going to melt faster with less ice than more."

When asked if there are any ice-level standards in practice at other bars, he laughed: “I'm not sure there are. Bartenders, by their nature, don't really like to adhere to any kind of across-the-board standard. It's a pretty individualistic trade that everyone thinks they can do. We can become very defensive very quickly."

It's comforting to know that even in the realm of whiskey and ice, things are reliably chaotic from bar to bar. I guess, in the future, I'll just ask up front them to keep the ice to a minimum. Or maybe I'll just start ordering my drinks neat and save everyone a lot of trouble.

George Ducker is contributing editor for Metromix Los Angeles.