14 Creative Ice Tray Hacks to Try This Summer

By Jessica Sion and Alexa O'Connell

After a week of commuting around Manhattan, we can see why everyone hates New York City in the summer. Warm air + sweaty people + no personal space = everyone standing waaaay too close for comfort.

MORE: New York City’s 21 Best Dim Sum Restaurants

And then your night always starts the same way: you’re out with your pals, you order a drink from the bar and the bartender hands you a cup with more ice than liquid. When you finally get to the bottom it’s essentially all water, and it’s annoying.

MORE: 12 Summer Drinks for Every Mood

Enter: the wonderful world of ice trays. Here are 14 creative ways to stay cool and keep your drink from becoming watered down liquid.

MORE: 11 Foods to Cool You Off This Summer

1. Coffee Ice Cubes

If you’ve ever taken more than twenty minutes to finish your iced coffee, you understand the struggle of melted ice and watered down coffee. Behold, the coffee ice cube: an ingenious way to keep your coffee cool and strong till the very last sip. Just pour some leftover coffee into an ice tray, pop it in the freezer, and let it chill for 3-4 hours.

MORE: Why You Should Be Drinking Your Coffee Black

2. Mojito Cubes

The perfect drink for a hot summer day is a mojito, and these cubes will keep yours cool until you finish the pitcher (shhhhh, no one needs to know). The cubes are made of equal parts water, sugar and lime juice. Leave some room to finish them off with rum and garnish each cube with a lime slice and shreds of mint leaves for a subtle flavor boost.

MORE: Make Your Own Honeydew Mojitos

3. Fruit Juice Cubes

If you love fruit, summer is the time to take advantage. Freeze your juice of choice and add a slice of your fave fruit - then add the cubes to a glass of seltzer, water or fruity cocktail. Yum.

4. Milk and Cookie Cubes

On their own, cookies rock. Add a tall glass of milk and they’re invincible. But combine the two into a frozen cube of glory and you’ve created a refreshing, easy-to-use ice cube perfect for your afternoon iced coffee. All you need is milk, Oreos and an ice cube tray.

5. Wine Cubes

Because warm wine is gross and watery wine is even worse. And if you have no wine to spare…

6. “Wine” Cubes

These aren’t actual ice cubes, but they keep your wine nice and chilly while you’re sipping. Freeze your grapes - purple for red, and green for white - and you can add some flavor while keeping your wine cool.

6. Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cubes

It’s like strawberries dipped in chocolate fondue, but cooler (no pun intended). Eat them straight up, in hot chocolate, coffee, or a glass of milk.

7. White Russian Cubes

This classically sweet cocktail is traditionally served with ice in the glass, so make it worth your while by topping it off with milk and coffee cubes instead. Of course you can make them separately, but I like to use a simple, but fancy, layering technique.

Make a pot of coffee (I cheated and used Starbucks Iced Coffee) and add a little bit of vodka to it. Fill your tray ¼ of the way with the coffee mixture and freeze them all the way. Proceed with a layer of milk, and so on. Be sure to fully freeze the tray after each layer of liquid to achieve this cool effect.

FOR THE FULL LIST, CLICK HERE.

Photos courtesy of Alexa O'Connell, Jessica Sion and Flickr.

Spoon University is a food network for our generation, where all the content is produced by college students. They cover everything from simple recipes and local restaurants to dining hall hacks and healthy living tips.