A bar in Singapore imports 900 kg of ice from Japan every year
Japanese company Kuramoto Ice from the city of Kanazawa produces transparent premium ice for cocktails and exports it, including to Singapore. Native bar, which made this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, imports about 900 kilograms of ice from this producer annually, Channel NewsAsia reports.
Kuramoto Ice is a company with a century-long history from Ishikawa Prefecture on the coast of the Sea of Japan. It is one of the few Japanese producers of ultra-clear ice that export their products. Since exports began in 2019, the company’s total sales have more than doubled.
Freezing takes up to three days
To produce the ice, water is slowly frozen for 48–72 hours while keeping it in motion. This is significantly longer than is usually needed to make ice at home or in industrial ice makers.
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During freezing, impurities in the water move toward the center of the block. Under the Japanese technology, this water is removed and replaced with fresh water, while constant stirring helps eliminate air bubbles. The result is completely transparent ice, known in Japanese as junpyo. At the factory, large blocks are cut and hand-shaped into spheres, cubes and rectangular bars with cut corners.
Ice for cocktails
The finished pieces can be made to fit a specific glass size and are then stored at minus 10 degrees before shipment. Native co-owner Yong Wei told AFP that local ice is more economical, but Kuramoto Ice products are clearer, denser and melt more slowly.
Industry representatives believe that such ice can cool a cocktail without diluting it as quickly, although there is little scientific evidence for this. Demand for premium Japanese ice also extends to bars in the United States and Australia, where they may pay up to 200 yen per cube. Japanese bartenders often begin their training by learning how to precisely break and shape ice.
