Giada De Laurentiis' Favorite Cocktails Rely On This One Genius Ice Cube Hack

The first taste of a cocktail is always the best, right? Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. What if, instead of drinking an increasingly watered-down beverage, your drink actually stayed tasty with each and every sip? Great mixology is all about paying attention to the details, and there’s a Giada De Laurentiis cocktail recipe hack that will total up your barkeeping game. Her secret? Instead of using plain ice cubes in your mixed drinks, freeze some of your cocktail to use instead.

It’s a simple trick, but one that makes a huge difference. We’ve made frozen coffee ice cubes before to keep our caffeinated summer beverages cool but not watery (they’re a great way to turn De Laurentiis’ Dalgona Cloud Coffee into a chilled drink, too), but for some reason, we’ve never tried the hack for cocktails.

But nothing’s worse than spending a bunch of time whipping up the perfect drink, only to have it slowly dilute and turn to water in your glass. No one should have to chug their cocktail for fear of ice cubes melting – that’s just a recipe for trouble.

De Laurentiis showcases the ice cube hack in her recipe for Limoncello Arnold Palmers. She adds lemon zest to a silicone ice cube mold, then fills the tray with her Limoncello Arnold Palmer mix. Once the cubes are frozen, she uses those to chill the cocktail itself. The melting cubes taste just like the drink (with an added boost of citrusy flavor thanks to the lemon zest), so you can take as long as you’d like to finish your cocktail without having to worry about it getting watery.

As long as your beverage doesn’t have too much alcohol in it (this wouldn’t work with an Old Fashioned or a Martini, for example), you should be able to freeze some of it to use as ice. Your cocktail party guests will be impressed, and it’s such an easy trick you might as well treat yourself to it any time you’re in the mood for a drink.

In search of summer recipes, too? Giada De Laurentiis has plenty:

Launch Gallery: 13 Giada De Laurentiis Summer Cocktails & Dishes We'll Be Making All Summer

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