What to use instead of ice
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Chilling and diluting a shaken or stirred drink
It does two things at once. It drops the temperature and it melts in the 20-25% water that makes a spirit-forward drink taste balanced rather than hot.
Frozen cubes of the drink's own baseRan out
1:1 by volume, frozen from limeade, tea or coffee
Chills the same and the drink stays full strength to the last sip instead of going watery.
Frozen fruitRan out
1/2 cup frozen fruit per 1 cup ice
Chills and thickens but adds almost no dilution, and it brings sugar. Cut the syrup by half.
Frozen stainless steel or soapstone cubesRan out
4 stones per rocks glass, drink pre-chilled
Chills with zero dilution, which suits a spirit poured neat and makes a shaken sour taste harsh and syrupy.
What doesn't work: Refrigerating everything and skipping the ice entirely. A cold drink and a shaken drink are two different things, and without the melt there is no dilution, no aeration and no frost on the glass.
Frozen bulk in a blended drink
The crushed crystals are the structure of a frozen daiquiri or margarita, and how much you use is what sets the thickness.
Frozen cubes of the drink's baseRan out
1:1 by volume
The best version of the drink. It is still full strength at the bottom of the glass when a normal one has gone to slush.
Frozen fruitRan out
1 cup frozen fruit per 1 1/2 cups ice, cut the syrup by half and add 1 tbsp lime juice back
Thicker, sweeter and creamier. Without the syrup cut and the extra acid it drinks like a smoothie.
SorbetRan out
1/2 cup sorbet + 2 tbsp water per 1 cup ice, and drop all added sugar
Smooth with no crystals and much sweeter. It separates faster in the glass than an ice-based blend.
What doesn't work: Ice from a bag that has been sitting out and gone slushy. Half-melted ice blends straight to water, so the drink splits into foam and liquid within a minute and adding more will not fix it.