Having a Ball at the Freakin’ Frog

By Ken Miller (contact)

Monday, April 25, 2011 | 6:16 p.m.

“Look how small your ball is,” says Adam Carmer without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He’s referring to the ball of ice rattling around in my glass, which is empty because I’ve just polished off the the McCallan Single Malt 10-year Fine Oak whisky he’d poured in there not five minutes ago.

Okay, it’s actually my second glass, but that’s exactly why Carmer was making such a big deal out of the size of my ball—ice ball, heathens!

Carmer, owner and operator of the Freakin’ Frog, had invited myself and a group of my friends to enjoy the maiden voyage of his newest toy—a McCallan Ice Baller, a copper contraption that looks like an enormous version of the weights used on scales. Its two pieces, consisting of a base and an upper portion that slides downward onto the base—are heavy. The whole thing must weigh at least 20-25 pounds.

Using tongs, Carmer removes a 3-inch-square ice cube made from distilled water and places it on the base of the Ice Balller. He then puts the top half on, letting gravity force it down onto the ice cube. Water spills out the sides and out the top. The whole process takes about 20 seconds. The end result of this production? A perfectly round sphere of ice, used for chilling whisky—specifically, McCallan.

As Carmer refills my glass, he explains that whisky companies are always looking for ways to enhance the drinking experience, be it a new taste or tasting method. With one single, spherical piece of ice, Carmer says the experience of whisky takes on a whole new aspect.

For starters, the ice melts more slowly because it’s one piece (My one piece lasted through not one but two glasses of whisky.) And because it melts slower, your drink isn’t getting as watered-down as it is in typical “on the rocks” whisky.

But perhaps most importantly, Carmer says the ice sphere adds a visual element to the drinking experience that has been sorely lacking in the past.

“The idea of course is that this is going to be purely hedonistic,” Carmer says. “There are very few things in sensory evaluation that take up the visual. We’re so caught up with … smelling, tasting, mouth feel, finish, that we kind of miss any new way of having an exciting new visual experience. And I think this is visually stimulating. Literally and figuratively.”

It’s certainly a new experience for me, someone who up to now has eschewed ice in his whisky. But Carmer says he thinks the whisky just drinks better with the sphere. “I would argue you’ll drink more because it drinks so easy.”

As Carmer pours me another, this time a McCallan Fine Oak 15-year, I’m finding it hard to disagree. Carmer plans on breaking out the Ice Baller for VIP parties or for those who just want to have a singular experience.

“It is rare we can be visually stimulated when we’re tasting anymore, especially whisky,” Carmer says. “This is one of those exceptions. Even women who didn’t drink would try this. This would actually pull people in. Not just the contraption itself, but the end product, just having that in your glass.”

Well, that and all the ball jokes you’d get to try out.