Typically, if ice makes your drink cold, we’re good to go. But some bartenders will tell you that it’s arguably the most important element of creating a perfect cocktail. Whether for shaking, stirring, or the final product, clear rocks of ice will elevate a cocktail compared with standard ice made in your freezer.

The Klaris Clear Ice Maker simplifies the process of making craft ice in your own home. It makes four clear ice cubes, each 2 x 2 inches, in less than 12 hours. If that sounds ridiculous to you, then it’s probably not for you. But given how tedious and time-consuming making clear ice is otherwise, this is a great product for the home bartender.

Prior to using the Klaris, I would make large ice cubes, like ones for old-fashioneds, with silicone molds in the freezer. While they’re the proper size I’m going for, the problem is the ice comes out cloudy, not clear. I used to not care, but as I got more serious with my bartending, I wanted to use clear ice, primarily for the aesthetic it provides in a cocktail.

After using the Klaris for six months, it consistently makes cubes that come out the same exact size and with smooth edges. I opened the cover during the cycle a few times even when it says not to, and the ice still comes out the way it's supposed to; it just might take slightly longer—obviously not recommended, though.

Cool Engineering

The founder of Klaris, Chase Haider, is an engineer and a pioneer in the 3D printing space. The Klaris is a mostly stainless steel, partially plastic, 9 x 9 x 12 inch cube that sits with a solid grip on your counter. It’s electric and couldn’t be much simpler to use. There’s just one knob on the top cover that you turn to tell it if you want to start making your ice immediately or delay the start (up to eight hours), and to let it know if you want it to remain cold when it’s done (up to five hours).

The machine comes with the mold for four cubes; you can also separately buy a Collins mold that makes three prisms of ice for a taller glass. The molds are made of a thick silicone—much thicker than most standard ice molds. Once you fill the mold up with water, you just place it in the compartment inside, close the lid, push the knob, and let it do its thing. You don’t need to use filtered water. The faucet will work for your water source just fine because all of the impurities in the water, like minerals and gas, are going to get cleared out. I tested cycles with both filtered and tap water and the end result was the same.

Each cycle takes between eight and 12 hours to complete. That’s kind of a big window. It partially depends on how cold the water you fill your mold with is, and the temperature of the surrounding environment. It would be ideal for the Klaris to have a more concise timeframe for completing the cycle. There is a timer that shows how much time has elapsed but not how much time is remaining.

In my apartment with an air temperature hovering around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the Collins rocks took around 10 hours, and the standard cubes took around eight. I’ve heard anecdotes that during the winter in cold regions, it can take as little as five hours.

Since it takes so long, I forgot to harvest my ice right away a few times; the feature that allows you to keep it cold for up to five additional hours is helpful here. The one time I completely forgot to check on it even after the delay, everything was back to being liquid water, so I just started it over. You obviously need to plan a bit if you have a specific event you want to use the ice for. The delay functions overall are a great touch and help you time out your ice harvest, since sometimes it will finish overnight.

Making Things Clear

But since the machine plugs into the wall, I’m not sure why there can’t be a feature just to keep it cold until you open it back up. How does it work? The water is frozen layer by layer from the bottom up, which is known as directional freezing. (You don’t get this with a mold in your standard freezer because the cold air comes from all directions.) Simultaneously, an impeller-type fixture on the inside of the cover spins the water, which circulates the impurities up and out of the cube. This motion provides the necessary constant agitation, ridding the chance for the impurities to settle to the bottom.

The impeller needs to be submerged in the water, so you need to fill up the water in the mold to the fill line, which is higher than where the ice will ultimately reach. When the cycle is complete and you open the cover, it almost looks as if nothing happened because there’s a layer of liquid water above the clear ice. This water contains the impurities. You then pull the mold out and dump that water into the sink. You turn the mold upside down and twist and push a little and the rocks pop out. You need to pull them apart from each other with the plastic dividers that are in the mold. These can be a little flimsy and you don’t get extra, so I try carefully not to break them.

But then—you have an amazing rock of crystal clear ice. I feel like I’ve accomplished a science experiment every time I do it. You can see how it’s different from the freezer molds—it spoils you to never want cloudy ice again.

Practically, clear rocks of ice help the cocktail too. Large cubes are denser and have greater surface area, which makes them melt slower and keeps the drink colder over a longer period of time. Ice adds desired dilution to a cocktail too, and if there are impurities in the ice, it can impact the taste of the drink.

I don’t love the shape of the Collins mold. I think the prisms come out too thick and too short. It didn’t fit in my personal Collins glasses. I tried a new cycle and stopped about halfway through so that they came out a little thinner. It worked, but I had to continuously check in on the machine, and the prisms didn’t come out with a straight edge. If the ice does not fit in your glass, take it out right away. It’s heavy and ended up breaking one of my glasses.

If you don’t plan to use the ice right away, you can purchase custom plastic storage containers to stash them. I noticed that storing the cubes in the freezer gives the cubes a slightly frosted outer layer. But when you pour liquid onto it, the frost immediately goes away and the cube is completely clear again.

Storage containers come in a pack of three, which gives you 12 cubes or nine prisms to store. I wish these came in more than a pack of three, even though I could obviously purchase more; I want to be able to stash a lot of ice in my freezer so I don’t have to continually use the machine. The containers are also a little flimsy. They should be better quality.

Party Trick

You might not consider a machine that costs $549 and makes four cubes of ice to be efficient. But given more context, it’s pretty good. Think about how many hours it takes for a typical ice cube to freeze in your freezer, let alone a large 2 x 2 inch cube. Some serious bartenders make clear ice themselves with the so-called cooler method, which requires using a saw to cut the impurities out of huge hunks of ice made in coolers.

There’s no way I’m ever doing this. The machine is sturdy; it feels like I’m going to be using this for many years to come, so while it’s an extremely niche product, it’s an investment that’s worth it if you want to elevate your home bartending game, or just for a whiskey on the rocks. I even used it a few times for other drinks like coffee. It levels up any drink.

While the Klaris may not be the most efficient way for bars and restaurants to crank out a lot of clear ice for customers, it likely is for the home bartender who plans to use it often and at low volume. You can always buy clear ice from a limited number of craft ice producers. That’s my best option if I need a ton of ice for a party (or likely for commercial use), because I’d have to give myself a solid decade if I’m making enough ice for a party with the Klaris. Clear ice catapults the sex appeal of a cocktail, and I’m looking to make sexy cocktails at home. You eat and drink with your eyes first, so the first impression, the aesthetic, matters.

If you want to step up your home bartending game, the Klaris Clear Ice Maker is a fun investment. I invited a few friends over for cocktails with clear ice, and they instantly had smiles on their faces when they saw the difference. It’s completely invisible in your glass. Classy, sophisticated, and just cool.