Mixability: The dawn of the ice age

Such is the appeal of ice in the on-trade drink experience that "icy" innovation is coming into the sector thick and fast.

Here we profile two products which have ice at their core. And it seems we are moving away from the traditional practice of adding ice cubes to a product. Instead, we have a hot drink which starts out life in an iced format, and then we will see how ice has actually become the glass itself - taking the ice-frosted Martini glass one step further.The frozen drink - Frecco Fruitease

It is perhaps odd that in a feature about ice we should mention a hot beverage - but Frecco Fruitease is all about ice.

The product is a caffeine-free, hot, fruit drink - but has ice at the centre of its serve. To quote the marketing bumpf: "Fruit, hibiscus and juice are frozen in an ice wedge to which you just add boiling water, creating an explosion of juices, natural aromas and fresh fruit."

Now whether you feel the actual "explosion" of fruit it's hard to say. But it is a product unlike any other you will have on your back-bar - as the official serving suggestion demonstrates: "To serve Frecco Fruitease simply break the freshness seal, place the wedge in a warmed latte glass and add boiling water. This releases the fresh fruit before consumers' eyes, leaving a fantastic hot fruit drink ready to be enjoyed."

The good news for pubs is that it is an on-trade exclusive product; it is available in two flavours: Wild Berry Encounter (a blend of redcurrant, raspberry, blackcurrant and hibiscus) and Lemon Ginger Zing (a combination of lemon, ginger, hibiscus, apple and rosehip).

Chris Ransom, chairman of Frecco, said: "The on-trade has recognised the growing need to offer consumers premium drinking choices. With Fruitease the ability to meet that need is made easy in addition to generating exceptional profit margins.

"Fruitease is like no other drink. It is an experience for all the senses that can be enjoyed at any time of the day, by all ages."

Frecco has another icy offering in its portfolio: "Fruitice". This is a mix of fresh fruit, fruit juice and natural mineral water all frozen into a wedge, which can then be added to drinks. It has been designed for licensees unable to get their hands on all the ingredients you might need for more complicated mixed drinks. The range includes ice & lemon, ice & lime and ice & orange.

The most significant tie-up Frecco has managed to arrange for Fruitice is with Pimm's, where it has made an ice wedge containing all of the condiments that go into a Pimm's mix, including cucumber, fresh orange and mint.

The ice glass - Icydrink

Perhaps the biggest problem with our fondness for ice with a drink is the impact that it has on the liquid - in no time the ice cubes dilute the drink. If the drink happens to be mineral water then it is less of an issue. Cola? Not great, but bearable. Spirit and mixer? Then we start to get problems, given the alcohol often helps carry the flavour of the drink. So diluting the alcohol does not help.

As a result, some brand owners, such as the people at Maxxium, encourage retailers to use round ice cubes with its Bols brand, believing that the ice will melt more slowly.However, one company believes it has a genuine answer to this problem - simply by making the actual glass from ice.

The Icydrink innovation is actually an ice cone or moulded ice sleeve which sits inside a special, custom-made, non-drip 100ml glass - the ice slowly melts downwards, dripping into a space at the bottom of the glass. These sleeves are created by a machine which can fit on the bar top. However, the company is also able to provide any pub or bar with bulk supplies of the sleeves, should they be needed.

Pete Reynolds, managing director of Icydrink UK, said: "Thanks to its size the Icydrink glass is particularly good for champagne and cocktails. However, we have also found that if you want to serve something like iced coffees then it is perfect for that too."

Indeed, last summer New York magazine named Icydrink as the best way of drinking iced coffee.

The company says it has had a lot of success across Europe and in America with the innovation. According to Pete, it has been a big hit in bars and hotels across Europe, in cities ranging from Rome to Barcelona, Paris to Budapest.

And he is now confident that, as summer approaches, similar success can be had in the UK on-trade.

"In various guises we've been involved in the pub trade for the last 10 years. Now operators are telling us they want to find a way of keeping drinks chilled," he says. "If you want to serve a decent scotch, many customers feel that if you add a cube or two of ice, you may as well have put Coke in it. But the Icyglass does not dilute the drink."

Sadly the technology is not advanced enough yet to produce pint-sized vessels - besides which Pete also says that such a pint-sized glass would melt before the drink was consumed!

The roll-out in March will be backed up by the launch of a new sister product, which is an ice shot glass. These are made using a different machine to the icy glass, but will undoubtedly be popular with pubs and bars that have a big spirits trade.