ShareThisWhen does ice -- mere frozen water -- become a status symbol? When a single "cube" costs $8.
Glace (pronounced gloss) Luxury Ice is an extravagance, the cocktail-hour equivalent of look-at-me Christian Louboutin stilettos or a screaming-red Ferrari 458 Italia.
"When you order a top-shelf spirit, once it's away from the bar, there's no way to tell who has what," says the start-up company's founder, Roberto Sequeira. "However, this is a very visual, obvious, elegant way of letting people know 'I've got a premium drink in my hand.'
"It's about the presentation. It's almost like drinking a sculpture."
Unlike run-of-the-freezer cubes, Glace Luxury Ice is spherical. The shape, Sequeira says, allows for maximum cooling with minimum dilution. And it does sit prettily in a glass.
Each 2 1/2-inch sphere is made from purified water for "zero taste" and is mostly hand-carved from ice blocks at plants in Canada and Las Vegas. A black bag of five ice balls sells for $40. (The economy-size bag of 240 spheres is $1,440, or $6 apiece.)
The spheres are packed in dry ice and shipped frozen in vacuum-sealed bags, usually for overnight delivery.
Two ways to serve Glace: Let a sphere "age" three to four minutes in the glass, and it will frost when liquor hits it, or pour liquid over it immediately, and the ice will crackle.
"It's difficult to make, almost impossible to do at home," says Sequeira, 37, who came up with the idea for a brand-name ice while working on his 2007 master's in business administration degree from UCLA.
"I settled on ice because I thought it was something universal that had been overlooked. It's a very commoditized thing. We don't think about it, but I could see ice being a conversation piece."
Because Glace spheres melt more slowly than traditional ice cubes, liquor retains its integrity longer and dilutes much more slowly, he says.
"Any time you're drinking 12- or 18-year-old Macallan whiskey or Glenlivet whiskey -- anything upward of $35 a cocktail -- the experience matters."
Sequeira's goal for 10 years from now, he says, is to make the Glace brand a part of every premium drinker's repertoire. He imagines the day when bar patrons call for Glace by name, the way they ask for their favorite liquor.
Perry Stockwell, general manager of Fuzio Universal Bistro in downtown Davis, Calif., isn't sure if Glace would be a good fit there, because of the eatery's casual nature.
"I'm not saying I couldn't sell it," he says. "It's not something you would expect to find here. But we have the better-bourbon folks who occasionally come in, and that's who I could probably sell the ice to."
In addition to the bar crowd, Sequeira hopes to someday find ordinary people keeping a Glace bag in their home freezer for the occasional martini or to dress up drinks for dinner parties.
The $8-per-sphere cost is reasonable, he says. He calls it "celebratory pricing."
"You don't have to be rich. Some people may eat out every day, because their lifestyle affords it, and some only eat out once a week, a month or a year. My goal is to have this be affordable, whether it's for once a month or for a birthday or anniversary."
Sequeira, who lives in Davis, Calif., with his wife, Melissa, was born and raised in Nicaragua. He was 14 when his family fled that country and sought political asylum in the United States.
His father, a general contractor in Nicaragua, ran a convenience store in Northern Virginia while his mother, a dentist, stocked shelves at a Woolworth's variety store. On weekends, young Sequeira and his dad mowed lawns for wealthy Virginians. They later moved to Southern California.
Sequeira earned a degree in construction management from Fresno State University and held various jobs, including firefighter, before establishing himself as a fancy-ice man.
A portion of Glace's profits, he says, will go to improving water quality in Africa and Nicaragua.
"When we came to this country, I didn't speak English. I knew that anything was possible in the United States -- if you worked hard, were true to your word and respected your friendships. This is the land of opportunity.
Must credit Sacramento Bee
