Ice, ice, baby

“It’s too hot today.”

“Oh, dear, why is it so hot today?” “I hate the heat.”

“It’s so hot, people are experiencing raised blood pressure.”

These comments were made by some people I know. It’s true that lately, we’ve had very hot days.

“Ironically, Manila has been experiencing floods while we here in Cebu have been experiencing hot, hot days,” my niece Krystalle said.

The contrast has not escaped me. In fact, it made me think of ways to dispel the heat. Well, okay, one way to dispel the heat.

Ice cold water can quench our thirst. A tall glass of ice-cold lemon juice makes for a refreshing drink on a hot day.

I think you know the next logical thing I did. You are correct in saying that I experimented with different ways of improving on ice. Here’s what I came up with.

PINE-COCO ICE. Mix drained crushed pineapple and young coconut strings, and add to fresh coconut water. Add pineapple juice or fresh coconut water. I’ve tried it with lemonsito juice (Phililppine lemon) and it was none the worse.

CHOCO CUBES. Freeze a chocolate drink with choco bits. Use this when making a big batch of cold coffee latte or creamy chocolate drink. The choco cubes will prevent the drink from being watered down.

PINK GEMS. Make ice cubes using strawberry juice using your favorite powdered drink. Pour into decorative ice cube trays. On each cube, add a slice of watermelon or sliced strawberry or mango. When making punch, use the ice cubes to add flavor and color.

VEGGIE GOOD. Veggie drinks such as pure carrot juice or carrot with cucumber can be chilled with vegetable-based ice cubes or a combination of some citrus fruits and root veggies.

I’ve tried mixing carrot juice with lemonsito juice to taste. It works well with plain carrot juice as well as cucumber-orange-carrot juice.

Tomato juice can also be frozen and added to carrot juice. Or the reverse: freeze carrot juice and use to chill your glass of tomato juice.

PRETTY WATER. So is plain water out of the picture? Not at all. Add color to soft drinks and juice by freezing plain water with sweet but non-acidic fruits such as cubed peaches, mangoes and pears.

It’s fun playing with ice. Try it yourself and find out what you can come up with.