Tovolo Sphere Ice Molds - Set of 2

I unwrapped the molds, washed them by hand, filled them up to just BELOW the line with filtered water from my fridge door, placed one in my deep freeze and one in my upright side-by-side freezer, and a few hours later I had these little tools figured out. The sphere from the mold in the colder (-10 degree F) deep freezer was a little "uglier". It was ice and it chilled my whiskey, but it was more cracked and had little white crystals all over the outside of the sphere. The ice sphere from the mold in my slightly warmer (exactly 0 degrees F) upright freezer was prettier, more clear, and had none of the little fuzzies all over it. The spheres sometimes crack a little along a seam when I pour my scotch over it, but the spheres don't break apart on me. They stay whole and melt very slowly in my Laphraoig preserving the taste and rich brassy color. They even look cool with my Lagavulin and my Glemorangie (lighter colored whiskies), and these spheres work WAY better than whiskey stones. If you care about having crystal clear picture perfect spheres every single time, if you cannot tolerate cracks in your ice, if you're posing with your ice spheres for some centerfold in some monthly dram drinkers publication or making a movie, then maybe you want to spend $80 on one of those molds that comes with it's own stainless cooler. But for this price tag, these products are very satisfying! They are easy to use (make sure and do not fill all the way to the line!), and they create a nice looking and very effective ice sphere that outperforms whiskey stones in providing long lasting cooling to your favorite whiskies or cocktails without diluting the flavors you want.

Great two pack to create sphere ice cubes. Molds are quality materials, easy to fill and set in freezer. Store well in freezer and makes the perfect sphere for your drink of choice.

Sometimes I like to sip whiskey on the rocks on a hot day or to bring the proof of the alcohol down slightly but I don't like a watered down drink. I currently have 5 ice cube molds and 4 ice ball molds in my freezer. The ice sphere is my favorite. You see, ice as a sphere melts slower than ice as a cube. Why? Simple science. A sphere made of ice has less surface area in contact with the liquid in the glass than a traditional cube while allowing for the most possible volume. This allows for a slow, somewhat controlled dilution of your bourbon without watering it down. A little bit of dilution will open up the whiskey you're drinking and expose more flavors that may have been hidden behind the higher concentration of alcohol. The Tovolo Ice Sphere Mold is the best ice sphere mold I've tried to date. I like that they are individual molds. Others that I have in my freezer are trays, and while they work just fine, they tend to leave a "saturn ring" around the middle of the ball because of the way the tray is constructed. With the Tovolo mold, you don't get that ring. These are also the largest ice sphere molds I've found. They fill a double old fashioned glass perfectly. I haven't timed how fast they melt but I'd say it's easily an hour. It's real easy to make ice balls using these molds. Just be aware that where it says "fill to this line" on the mold it means to the ridge in the mold not the wavy line which is right where "fill to this line" is written. Filling to the wavy line over-fills the mold. I have 2 sets of these molds in my freezer (4 molds total) and make ice spheres in batches. I read somewhere that people had difficulty removing the ice spheres. For whatever reason, I get lucky with 2 of the 4 molds and the ice sphere sticks to the silicone top and is ridiculously easy to pop out. With the other 2 molds, the ice sphere gets stuck in the plastic bottom and requires running under tap water to warm the mold enough to melt the ice a fraction of a centimeter to release it. Here's a tip if you have to run under water - remove the silicone top and flip the mold upside down so the exposed ice is facing down. Now tilt at a 45 degree angle and run under the water, allowing the water to hit the middle "waistline" of the mold. Rotate the mold so you effectively warm the entire outside to loosen the sphere within. Using this method will get the sphere out but more importantly will keep the water from hitting the ice and melting it. You'll retain a nice sphere shape this way.

Overall, these are really really cool, and I think a great bar accessory for anybody who likes to entertain, or just drink themselves silly, with a touch of class (or, alternatively, Star Trek aficionados). They are pretty large, so make sure you're using appropriate glassware (and put the ice in FIRST!). The most important tips I can offer, assuming you want round, and more "clear" ice balls: 1) You might need to fill them *just* under the line provided to get spheres - otherwise, they may come out kind of oblong. Water expands when it freezes, so having the right amount in the mold is critical. In trying to find the exactly right fill level, make sure you're using the same water under the same freezing conditions. Alternate method: Once I've put the water in and put the molds together, I usually give a firm press to the silicone top to see if any excess water comes out. If you press down (firmly but not gorilla-style) on either side of the little hole in the middle of the silicone mold, and any water comes out, they're probably a little too full. When no more water comes out while pressing, you're probably good. Again, test, repeat, test... 2) Use bottled or filtered water for better clarity. I usually use the cheap store-brand bottled water and I get great results. Boiling the water (and letting it cool) ahead helps too, but this takes way too much time and effort and the results won't be perfect anyway so it's a waste of time and money. 3) The slower they freeze, the more clear they will be - don't try using hot water, as warm or hot water actually freezes quicker than cold water (look up the "Mpemba effect"). The best way to freeze them slower is to insulate them in some way, so that the cold blast of your freezer doesn't get at them too quickly. 4) When releasing the balls from the molds, run a little cool or cold water over the outside of the molds for a few seconds and the ice should come out pretty easily. If not, keep running them under the water a little longer. Using warm or hot water to do this will usually result in cracked balls due to thermal shock - and cracked balls isn't something anybody wants. :) 5) Ultimately, if you think you're going to get 100% clear, flawless ice spheres from these, you'll probably be disappointed. Generating perfect ice spheres requires very clean water, a freezing method that home freezers just can't duplicate, and an ice ball press. The amount of money needed to pull this off well exceeds the disinterested, furious look on your significant other's face when looking at both the perfectly clear ice ball and the Visa bill. Yes, there are some tricks to using these, and yes, it would be nice if they worked a little more "automatically" - but really, most of these tricks are there to help you "Acheive Clarity". For the most part, these work great as advertised and they are significantly less expensive than the alternative - for a home bar, this is the only way to go. If you are a club owner or trust fund kid with more money than sense, use an ice ball press. At the end of the day, the novelty of a large ice ball to chill your guests' drinks is going to matter more to them than whether or not the balls are perfectly spherical or clear - they really don't care as much as you might. They do last a long time, usually 2-3 drinks worth (for room temp scotch), or longer for chilled drinks. They're not miraculously going to last all day, though. So, I keep making batches whenever I think of it, and just keep them in a bag in the freezer for the next party. Definitely a great purchase, great value, and I'm buying some more as gifts for friends who liked them!

These are our new favorite ice cubes!!! They are perfect for any drink in a rocks glass! So easy to fill, but don't leave them in the molds too long they will stick to the mold. I suggest putting them in a container in the freezer instead. Very sturdy molds.

In the life of the average whiskey drinker, "Good Ice" might not be the first thing that comes to mind in quality drinkcraft. But, the type and characteristics of the ice you use can have a major impact on the taste and enjoyment of your drink. And since most whiskey drinkers like their firewater without mixers, you're left with drinking the stuff neat, or on the rocks. Thus, a drink with only two ingredients: Whiskey Ice And now you see how one will inevitably consider ways to improve on how they bring the second ingredient to bear in their libation of choice. Most drinkers eventually find a bottle or style of whiskey that suits them, rendering #1 solved. And while there are those of us who are always curious and trying new bottles of the brown stuff, one can't simply think of whiskey ALL day (though I've certainly tried). Enter, accompanied by fog machines and probably lasers, the Tovolo Ice Sphere. The goal of an ice sphere is performing 3 roles in a glass of whiskey: Keep the drink chilled Melt slowly, thus maintaining said chill while keeping dilution to a minimum Look super sweet These Tovolo spheres do a thricely great job of tackling that to-do list. These bad boys turn out perfectly round spheres of ice that chill a glass of the brown stuff nicely, while dissolving slow enough to last through a second pour (don't you JUDGE me, internet). The molds come in two pieces: the clear plastic bottom, and a silicone top. The plastic bottom gets filled with water to a marked fill line, and you insert the silicone top. The silicone top has rounded sides that form the top half of the sphere and push the water upward into the sphere shape. The top has a small hole in the center so if you overfilled the excess water comes out on top of the mold. The only trick is to insert the top slow enough that water doesn't come spurting out the top, but unless you're slamming it home you've got nothing to worry about. These bad boys go in the freezer, and in a few hours you're ready to enjoy. The silicone top is flexible, which makes removing the ice from the mold easy. We've had our set for over a year with no sign of wear. Durable enough in my opinion, and at this price point if anything happened we'd just buy a new set. Highly recommended. Rating: 4.3 out of 5 Tasty Whiskeys.

If you're like me you're probably looking at all of these reviews and saying "but.... I already use ice! Why pay around twelve dollars to get something that I already use?!" The answer is simply that it is MUCH better. I have always used regular ice cubes to cool my drink and have accepted that this is probably the best way (imo) that I would get it. I like my drinks cold. Some people like it clean and don't mind that the scotch is warm. However, I get heartburn while drinking Scotch and it helps a bit to cool it down so there isn't much in the ways of options for me. I tried the "whiskey stones" but they didn't keep the drink warm for very long and ended up being good for conversation, but little else. I just ended up going back to ice cubes. Now, the part of the story that you have been waiting for. These ice spheres aren't just more of what you are using. It's really nothing like your usual ice cube. The Scotch tastes better than it ever has due to the temp (again my opinion) and the lack of being watered down. I drank two decent sized glasses of Scotch last night and the sphere had only melted about halfway down. I would highly recommend this product if you like your Scotch/Whiskey/Bourbon cold and you hate your drink being watered down to the point of odd tasting water. When purchasing this product three things had concerned me: 1) Will these slide around a ton and hit me in the face whenever I drink? 2) Will these fit in my Scotch glasses? 2) Are all of these reviewers nuts and I'm not going to have the same experience? 1) The answer is that they do not hit you in the face and will maybe hit your lip when you are finishing off the last little bit of drink. It may be the glasses that I use (they're in one of the pictures on here), but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ice stays put at the bottom. 2) This will depend on the narrowest point in your glass. My roommate has one that they do not fit in as it is tapered in the middle and the ice ball is too wide. I would suggest seeing if you've got the 2"-2.5" clearance that you need. When using my glasses, the ice is maybe half an inch below the rim of the glass. The biggest issue that I ran across was that I had no clue how much Scotch to fill the glass with when using these. I know how much I use with one ice cube, but this is much bigger and you feel like you are filling the glass too high when in reality you are probably still getting less than you are used to. 3) Nope. This is an awesome product. Seriously, try it out and send it back if you aren't happy. If you're buying Scotch and you enjoy the flavor with ice you will be amazed by the difference that this product will make in the quality of that flavor. It dynamically changed the Scotch that I drink in a much better way. I enjoyed it with ice, but I had no clue that I was missing out on so much of the flavor (that isn't boozy tasting, just the actual scotch's flavor that they write about on the label - you'll understand after trying this). In summary, if you drink Scotch often do yourself a favor and give these a shot. I am considering buying another set for guests. I have only tried these with my Grangestone 12 year (roughly $25/bottle at my local Total Wine) and am looking forward to trying them with some Glenfiddich and some Glenlivet to see what kind of difference it makes there. I usually don't drink the really smokey Scotches simply because I haven't bought enough of them to really gain an appreciation for the flavor. I'm including this information so that you are aware of what Scotches I am referring to and how they are impacted. All of these are Scotches of the sweeter variety. update 10/31/2013 Still love these. I've tried them with a much larger variety of scotches (all of the ones listed above included) and they all taste much better. I purchased six of these so that my friends could also use them if they wanted a glass of scotch. I've purchased a set for my father (an avid scotch drinker), and a friend. Both people love them, even if my father only uses the ice ball once before throwing it out in favor of a new one if he's having a second glass. I've only had one of these containers crack a bit because it fell out of the freezer with the ice in it, but it still works and for the low cost I really don't mind the fact that I may have to replace it at some point in time. All in all, I'm still very happy, have not had any of them warp or fail to work due to changing temperatures, and would still highly recommend them to friends or family.

I recently started drinking The Macallan single malt Scotch. While looking at merchandise on their website, I found an ice sphere press and wanted one immediately. The problem is the price tag. The one sold by Macallan is 650 Euro which by todays exchange rates will cost you about $843. All other brands of ice sphere presses I've found ranged from $500-$1,500. I thought there had to be a better option and then I found these. These ice sphere molds work perfectly. Use as directed and you will achieve a clear practically perfect 2.5" sphere of ice each time. Durable and well contructed from food grade materials. You'll get clearer ice if you use filtered or boiled water. If prefered, you can even add fruit and stuff into the molds for presentation. This morning, I used 2 spheres to chill a very large cafe latte. I would normally fill almost the entire glass with regular ice and then have to add more ice half way through cause it melted. These spheres worked perfectly. Hardly any dilution of my espresso and by the time I finished there were still 2 resonably large ice spheres in my glass that I could have continued to use in a refill. These things are just brilliant! I have no idea why anyone would ever spend $500-$1500 for a press when they could have these. These are perfect to chill your liquor or any beverage you prefer to not become diluted. Someone rated this product at 2 stars. If you actually read their review you'll understand that the person is an idiot. If the 2.5" ice sphere doesn't fit your glass, use a different glass. If you don't want your beverage to splash, put the ice in first. It's just common sense.

Son pequeños pero los hielos con forma de arcoiris se ven bonitos, el molde es muy práctico, fácil de llenar y fácil de sacar

After using the ice cube trays or moulds for a couple of days now. They mould the skulls very well filling them is very easy. It is a little difficult though to remove. When removing don’t use the pull tabs. Kind of give them a squeeze and work them out around the sides to remove the silicone. It will come out.

Prodotto perfetto per fare ghiaccioli sferici con grande semplicità, perfetti per i miei gin tonic!

I’m someone who likes there drinks really cold. These ice cubes are particularly great if you drink any spirit over ice. They just fit into a whisky glass. Nice.

I was abit skeptical at 1st, however, after reading the reviews, I thought this would be the best option for me. They work great!! I'm so happy! Prepared my 1st round cubes for use. They sat all night in the freezer, and upon using today - IM VERY IMPRESSED! The moulds stack nicely and out of the way. Not a big tray I have to decrease food space for. It was easy to take out of the mold, it was seamless and it doesn't dilute your drink like normal ice cubes do. I added the cube to a very large glass and a very warm drink, to see how it stacks up against the regular ice cube. It has kept my drink colder much longer. Versus 10 -12 normal cubes ( which would water down your drink significantly) and its still has alot of melting to do. I remember seeing some people's complaints were that the cubes weren't see through, as they had alot of white in the middle. Im happy to report the ladies who gave the advice for clear rounds - works! The hotter the water you put in the mould, the clearer the round cubes are. It does only make 2 rounds, but they are very good quality and you can always buy more. This company offers many different mould choices. If you want to have a cold and very cool looking drink. Then TOVOLO is the right moulds for you!