The status of ice in coffee

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In the eyes of many people, ice is nothing more than a way to cool coffee or drink, so it has nothing to do with its shape and size, as long as it is a piece of ice, cooling and cooling is enough to solve the problem. So is ice really that simple? Let's explore the effect of ice on coffee or drinks from a professional point of view. In fact, the ice on the market has many different shapes: square ice, half-square ice, snowflake ice, round ice, mineral ice and so on. These different ice shapes have different applications in the coffee industry.

Several kinds of ice cubes commonly seen in ▲

In Southeast Asia, many large coffee chains use mineral ice as their only choice; coffee shops in South Korea use round ice as a way to cool their coffee; in the European market, most coffee shopkeepers prefer round ice as their first choice, while in the United States, the world's largest edible ice market, people prefer regular square ice. However, in recent years, mineral ice that can be chewed and tastes smooth has become more and more accepted in the American market. On the contrary, due to the influence of traditional chain restaurants, most cafes in China generally use square ice or semi-square ice.

Characteristics and forming principle of square ice and semi-square ice

Square ice or semi-square ice adopts the traditional principle of flowing ice formation, so that the ice can be condensed into ice in a short time, so it can provide a sufficient amount of ice to meet the needs of customers. And this is why many fast food restaurants are keen to choose this type of ice maker, because they pursue fast production, and expect customers to finish eating quickly in a relatively short time, so as to provide restaurant space for the next diner. It is precisely to meet the needs of a large number of ice cubes, this kind of ice machine equipment design principle is relatively simple, for drinks in 10-15 minutes can not be affected. Therefore, the production cost is low, the process is simple, and it is loved by many primary coffee users.

Characteristics of round ice and its forming principle

The round ice is formed by spraying. Due to the ultra-low temperature ice forming mode, the evaporation plate temperature of the ice is below-15 ℃, which is naturally sprayed under the influence of gravity, so that the impurities in the water can not adhere to the ice, which ensures the edible safety of the ice to a great extent.

Compared with traditional square ice, round ice is several times harder than square ice. This means that when the square ice begins to melt, the round ice has not been significantly affected. At the same time, if you use glass or transparent containers to carry coffee, because the round ice has the characteristics of no impurities, so that customers can clearly see the real scene of ice through the container, which will greatly improve the appreciation of coffee.

Large goods in cafes use transparent glassware, so the overall bright and slow-melting round ice has a more visual effect than ordinary square ice. In addition, due to the design of round ice, the gap between ice and ice is also very narrow, compared with the large gap of ordinary square ice, operators can save more raw materials and get lower cost.

Characteristics and forming principle of ore-shaped ice

Why is mineral ice the first choice for many Southeast Asian coffee chains?

Due to the influence of local climatic conditions and traditional habits, the demand for ice in the region is also very large. And ordinary square ice because its hardness exceeds the bite force of people's teeth, consumers will have an impact on chewing and swallowing.

However, because the mineral ice is extruded from the evaporation plate by a skate when the temperature is just below zero, and combined again at low temperature, the ice-shaped particles are uniform and compact, the particle shape is small, laid and placed at will, and the water content is small. Slow melting. More importantly, this kind of ice cubes are as easy to chew as fudge, and when chewing ice cubes, you can also feel the taste of the drink mixed in the ice cubes, making it a tasty ice cube.

What is even more interesting is that if you use a blender to blend this kind of ice with coffee and break it, you can get a new drink form-coffee-flavored milkshake, which will give operators more choices in drinks. In addition, because this kind of ice can be laid and placed at will, it can also be laid flat at the bottom of the display case to cool the drink (similar to laying snow ice on the fresh table to keep the food fresh), which really achieves the effect of multi-purpose of one machine.