Can a Cocktail Bar Be Great Without Ice?

Recently, one of the most ubiquitous ingredients for a number of cocktails has begun having its moment in the spotlight: ice. While it was never an afterthought, the last few years have seen the process of icemaking become almost as big a deal as the rest of the elements of a great cocktail. Alternately, as an article in InsideHook from 2024 dubbed the phenomenon: Peak Cocktail Ice.

What happens when a bar decides to avoid ice in its drinks altogether? That’s what Paris’s De Vie is doing, combining local ingredients with an ice-free approach. In an article for Punch, Nicola Leigh Stewart talked to the bar’s founders to learn more about the concept — and what it was like creating a menu with that restriction.

Founders Alex Francis and Barney O’Kane (previously of Little Red Door) told Punch that environmental concerns informed their decision. “No bar in Paris is making their own ice because of the size of venues, so here, a company makes them and delivers them, and ice is heavier than concrete, so you’re basically transporting cinder blocks from one part of Paris to another,” Francis explained.

That connection between icemaking and sustainability is one that many cocktail bar owners have had to consider. When I interviewed Ice author Amy Brady in 2023, she also raised this topic. “[D]epending on how you source your ice and how you use it, it could be more sustainable,” she said. “Again, it kind of just depends on your larger energy output as a business.”

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Just because De Vie is eschewing ice doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of the temperature at which these drinks will be served – and how best to keep them cool. Francis cited a few design elements to help keep drinks cold, including “ceramics with built-in ‘whiskey rock’ pieces.” (Does that mean De Vie has figured out the riddle of whiskey stones?) Either way, this looks like an appealing blend of ambitious cocktail recipes and creative presentation; it certainly seems worth a visit on your next Parisian jaunt.