TINANA Clear Ice Ball Maker, 2.5” Clear Ice Cube Tray Make 1 Large Sphere Ice Balls for Whiskey, Cocktails & Bourbon, Gifts for Men

There are many competing products. I studied the reviews and compared the prices. I went with this one after verifying it would fit in my bottom freezer drawer. Now I get 4 beautiful clear ice balls every 36 hours. I use the filtered water from my refrigerator water dispenser. The ice comes out crystal clear. I was afraid it was going to be hard to get the mold out, but I find it fairly easy and can see where letting it thaw a little would help people having trouble. I read up on "tempering" the ice. I keep my alcohol in the freezer and the refrigerator, so it seems like I don't have to use tempering to keep the ice from cracking when I pour the liquid over it. But I have inadvertently allowed a little time at room temperature before pouring, so maybe I am partially tempering my ice. This works great with old fashioneds and whiskey sours :)

In terms of quality, this unit has it nearly perfect. I get clear ice with no funky smell or taste from the silicone mold. I scrubbed the mold and tray before the first use with a little sludge I made for my other silicone items to remove anything on the surface from the manufacturing process. Ran a test batch in my -10F chest freezer with water from my Zerowater filter, and got perfectly clear spheres! I always throw out the first two batches to ensure any residue is fully gone and it is only pure water going through the process. The spheres are perfectly sized for my big tumbler that comes to work with me everyday and keeps my water colder longer. The resulting ice at the bottom of the mold tends to be nearly the same clarity and of decent enough quality I take it and bag it as a bonus “chunk” ice for other uses. The ice in the bottom of the mold does take a while to come out, but I find leaving it on a sheet pan with a wire rack helps it to eventually fall out and stay clean enough to use without any real effort. Just be patient and you’ll hear it drop out of the mold. I rinse the cloudy parts of all the ice with my filtered water and throw it all in a ziploc bag for storage.

This product works perfectly making ice spheres as advertised. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because it takes a little figuring out due to instructions being minimal. I watched YouTube videos, and googled some instructions. But, the finished product is perfect.

The Tinana and Berlinzo are essentially the same ice maker with two different labels. But there are some differences between the two, and to my mind, they do not favor the nearly twice as expensive Berlinzo: 1. Physically, they are 98% identical. The only physical difference between these is that the Berlinzo is sheathed in a hard plastic outer casing with a satin black finish and some small, but nice, graphics. Between the two, this gives the Berlinzo a more “formal” and “classy” appearance. Seriously, it looks nice. If that matters to you, while it sits in your freezer, then it’s your ice maker of choice. Or, perhaps you want to give one of these as a gift; the Berlinzo does look nicer. [FWIW, their exterior shipping boxes are both nice, but to my mind, the Tinana is nicer in its simplicity.] Other than the Berlinzo’s outer shell, they are identical, and their parts are interchangeable. However, I think this outer shell contributes to difference #2. 2. Per their instructions, the Tinana should be allowed to freeze for 30 hours, while the Berlinzo requires 40-48. If you’re on any kind of clock, that’s significant. Other than the thin satin plastic shell on the Berlinzo, I can think of no reason why the two devices should have such significantly different freezing times. Interestingly, the Berlinzo instructions specifically state that you should not freeze it for more than 50 hours, else there is a risk of cracking the shell. That strikes me as a disadvantage, or at least a risk of disadvantage. I found the freezing times for both devices accurate. 3. The Berlinzo comes with a nice plastic bag in which to store your spheres. Unfortunately, it’s not really big enough to hold more than one batch at a time. Ziplock is your friend here. 4. In all other respects, the two devices produce identical, almost entirely clear ice spheres when you follow the instructed times for freezing. And if you don’t, they also perform similarly. Pulling either device out of the freezer six hours ahead of time will reveal a not-fully-frozen base, and partially formed (about 75%) spheres. Also, if you decide to use warm or even hot water to slow the freezing process further, you’ll need to adjust your freezing time accordingly. I do, and have found an additional six hours (for a total of 36) in the Tinana works well, while the Berlinzo requires its full 48. 5. The spheres from both devices also benefit from tempering. Without tempering, they didn’t always crack, but they did sometimes. And with tempering, none of the spheres cracked when room temperature whiskey was poured on them. Most people recommend five minutes for tempering, and that makes sense if the spheres are kept in an ice bucket or bowl. I found that when placed in individual glasses, 2-3 minutes seemed sufficient to avoid cracking. YMMV. I have attached pics showing the spheres side-by-side. They are indistinguishable. I also did a 90-minute melting test, with images taken at 00:00, 00:30, 01:00, and 01:30, with a sphere from each maker in a glass containing 2 ounces of water. Granted, water and booze are not the same thing, and holding a glass will speed the ice melting process. But all I wanted to do was compare how a sphere from each maker would perform in the same environment. Short answer: they melted identically. And that’s no surprise since they are almost identical in their construction, and entirely identical in their method. For me, the performance of both the Berlinzo and the Tinana are 5 stars, with the Berlinzo docked one star for value and the additional 10-18 hours of freezing time. With respect to some of the less positive reviews: 1. Yes, it’s difficult to remove the rubber molds from the freezing box. It gets easier after first use, but they’re tight for a reason. I’m older, and my finger strength isn’t what it used to be, but I managed to get everything apart. 2. It’s not difficult to fill the container or to get the molds topped up. A gooseneck kettle is handy for topping off. 3. There is occasionally a little bit of excess ice around the seams (see pics), but it comes off easily. 4. Depending on your water minerality, you may find you get better results by boiling the water first, filtering it with a real filter (Brita doesn’t cut it), etc. Distilled or RO/DI water doesn’t always produce more clarity. The people who make the OnTheRocks version of this (I use their box for cubes) have some videos with recommendations for “fine-tuning” your ice. We have off-the-charts hard water in our house, and a whole house softener that reduces, but does not eliminate, the hardness. The tap water produced quite acceptable ice spheres. 5. With respect to water “wastage,” don’t rinse that ice block down the drain. Let it thaw and use it to water plants or pets or whatever. It’s perfectly clean water. It’s only waste if you waste it. Don’t throw it away!

Was hoping this would deliver, and not did it. Hubby bought this for to record. I, on the other hand, wanted to compare it to other smaller versions that seem to be easier to put in the freezer. To my dismay, I lost out on this one. This product is far superior in terms of the quality of the ice balls that it makes. The others that I tried to compare it to did not even get close. The photos are difficult to tell but these ice balls are absolutely clear, and the competitor products that I tried were definitely cloudy and some even cracked when we were trying to rub them underwater. Highly recommend this product. And I know even put these ice balls in my soft drinks. The photos do not do the ice balls justice.

This thing is so cool and it makes perfect ice cubes that are clear and sphere!!!

Es el mejor producto que e probado si te obsesionan las esferas de hielo perfectas y transparentes este producto es el ideal las esferas son imprecionantes

Simple yet effective - makes crystal clear ice spheres - look great in cocktails.

wanted the larger format ice ball for scotch - this makes them perfectly