Did you know that ancient Romans used snow from the mountains to cool their wine, but they flavored it with honey and spices to mask any earthy smells? They were onto something: covering up ice odors with strong flavors is a timeless hack.
In Japan, there’s a tradition of making kōri (ice sculptures) for temples, where the ice is sourced from pure mountain springs. They understood that water quality is everything—because a fishy ice cube would ruin both the ceremony and the tea.
Even pop culture winks at this problem. Remember the episode of The Office where Michael Scott insists the fridge smells like “death”? It’s funny because it’s true—and ice is often the silent witness to our kitchen crimes.
