Name: 揭祕紐約2000萬美元的頂級冰塊公司！🧊 | 小企業 (Inside NYC's $20 Million Luxury Ice Company | Small Business)
Uploaded: 2026-02-19T17:06:29.000Z
Duration: 13 min 12 s

I went from tending bar to owning and operating a multi million dollar cocktail ice business.

我從調酒師轉型，現在經營一家百萬美元的雞尾酒冰塊生意。

情態副詞

I recognized early on that it was perhaps the most important and overlooked ingredient in the modern cocktail.

我早就發現，雞尾酒冰塊可能是現代雞尾酒裡最重要卻又最常被忽略的成分。

I am the founder of 100 Weight Ice in Queens, New York City.

我是紐約市皇后區 100 Weight Ice 的創始人。

我們 2024 年的營收是 250 萬美元。

We are set on course to significantly surpass that number in 2025.

我們預計 2025 年的營收將會大幅超越這個數字。

You make a lot more money hustling frozen water than you do selling fancy cocktails, I'll tell you that.

我跟你說，販售冰塊比賣精緻雞尾酒賺得多。

So I was working as a bartender at bars in New York City.

所以，我當時在紐約市的酒吧當調酒師。

The owner asked me if I wanted to go into business with him.

店主問我要不要跟他一起創業。

And that's what led us to open Dutch kills in 2009.

這就是我們在 2009 年開設 Dutch kills 的原因。

When the day came, we opened the chest freezer and what was revealed to us was a rusty brown block of cloudy ice.

當天到來時，我們打開冰櫃，映入眼簾的是一塊鏽褐色、渾濁的冰塊。

So we decided to source crystal clear blocks of ice that we got from a local ice sculptor.

所以我們決定採購水晶般透明的冰塊，這是從一位當地的冰雕師那裡取得的。

People were excited about the opulence and beauty and clarity.

人們對這種奢華、美麗和清澈度感到興奮。

At times, people were unable to determine that there was actually ice in their glass.

有時候，人們甚至無法分辨杯子裡到底有沒有冰塊。

So we bought a machine and began freezing our own crystal clear blocks.

於是我們買了一臺機器，開始自己製作水晶般透明的冰塊。

In the early days, it was chainsaws and clothing irons because that's how we could crease the cubes perfectly.

在早期，我們用電鋸和熨斗，因為那是我們能完美切割冰塊的方式。

If I had walked into that room, I would say these people have no chance of survival, but

如果我走進那個房間，我會說這些人沒有生存的機會，但

Just about every night during service, somebody would ask me if we would consider selling this ice to them.

在營業時間的幾乎每個晚上，都會有人問我是否考慮賣冰塊給他們。

But we knew that we did not have the infrastructure and yet we decided to do it anyway.

但我們知道我們沒有基礎設施，卻還是決定這麼做了。

We start roughly between 5 and 6 in the morning.

我們大約在早上五點到六點開始。

You have to stand in the cold for the majority of your day.

你們一天大部分時間都得待在寒冷中。

And you're not only expected to engage in heavy lifting and heavy machine operation, but

而且你們不只要負責重活和操作重型機具，

you also have to be cognizant and aware of everything that's happening all around you.

還得隨時留意周遭發生的一切。

So this is the main shop floor where we have all of our block makers that produce our raw product, which is our 300 pound blocks of crystal clear ice.

這裡就是主要的廠房，擺放著我們所有製作原料的機器，也就是我們 300 磅的水晶般透明的冰塊。

On average, you're looking at between 5,000 and $7,000 per machine.

平均來說，每臺機器大約要價 5,000 到 7,000 美元。

So this is the first step of the process.

Filling up the machine with New York City's finest tap water.

在機器裡加滿紐約市最棒的自來水。

Everybody knows we make the best bagels and the best ice in New York City because of the water.

大家都知道，因為這裡的水，我們製作了紐約市最好吃的貝果和最好的冰塊。

So the pumps circulate, which prevents oxygen bubbles or any impurities that form within the block, which lends the final product a crystal clear aspect.

所以幫浦會循環，這樣可以避免氧氣氣泡或任何在冰塊中形成的雜質，讓最後的成品呈現水晶般透明的清澈度。

One way to tell if they're ready is by Doing that.

判斷冰塊是否準備好的方法之一就是這樣做。

As you can see, the clarity of the ice is indisputable.

正如你所見，冰塊的清澈度無庸置疑。

You're going to have residual water at the end of the process.

在製程結束時，你會剩下一些殘留的水。

So we vacuum out what's, what's left and then we can hoist the final product.

所以我們會把剩下的水抽掉，然後就可以取出最終的產品了。

We harvest 3,120,000 pounds of ice each year.

我們每年會採收 3,120,000 磅的冰塊。

The harvesting process is probably the most precarious within the entire production because when the blocks come out of the machines, they weigh about 300 pounds.

採收過程大概是整個生產中最危險的，因為當冰塊從機器裡出來時，重量大約是 300 磅。

And then from there that block goes into our storage freezer where we let it temper and we wait a little while before we start cutting the raw product.

然後從那裡，冰塊會進入我們的儲冰櫃，在那裡讓它回溫，我們會等一會兒再開始切割原料。

So it's very similar to what mill workers will use.

所以這跟鋸木工人使用的非常相似。

People who are chopping down trees, that's what we use.

這就像是伐木工人，我們也是這樣用的。

So on average we're cutting 15,000 2 inch cubes per day.

所以平均下來，我們每天會切 15,000 個 2 英寸的冰塊。

Now we have completely different offerings, completely different products that we're also cutting by the tens of thousands.

現在我們有完全不同的產品線，完全不同的產品，我們也都是以萬為單位在切割。

So just an example of some of the things that we use.

所以這只是我們使用的一些東西的例子。

Our horizontal ice mill, we use that to make our slabs.

我們的臥式製冰機，我們會用它來製作冰塊平板。

So a machine like this that will run on the high end, $5,000.

所以像這樣的機器，高階款的價格大約是 5,000 美元。

We use it to just get very even cuts that we then transfer to the band saws that you would use for meat processing, essentially, although it has never been used for that purpose.

我們用它來切割出非常均勻的板塊，然後再傳送到帶鋸機，原則上就是用來處理肉品的，雖然它從未用於此目的。

The cost of the average bandsaw that we use can range anywhere from 5,000 to $20,000.

我們使用的帶鋸機平均價格大約在 5,000 到 20,000 美元之間。

所以這臺機器是一臺 CNC 路由器。

It stands for computer numerical control.

This is the machine that we use for custom engraved dice.

這就是我們用來製作客製化雕刻骰子的機器。

And it operates with a very high speed router that moves at very high RPMs to engrave logos we program or design into the software for our clients.

它透過一支高速主軸運作，以非常高的 RPM 轉速來雕刻我們為客戶程式設計或設計的 Logo 到軟體裡。

The machine itself, the frame, the electronics, the you can get upwards of 50 to $75,000.

這臺機器本身，包含機架、電子設備，價格最高可達 50,000 到 75,000 美元。

The average cost, let's say two or three dollars per cube.

平均成本，假設一個方塊兩到三塊美金。

但它能創造的價值遠不止於此。

One of our most expensive orders to date was an order for 50 packs of logo cubes for $4,500.

我們至今接過最貴的訂單之一，是 50 包客製化 Logo 冰塊，總價 4,500 美元。

Another very expensive piece of ice that we make are the spheres with the flowers that can be five to six dollars per sphere.

另一種我們製作的、非常昂貴的冰品是帶有花的冰球，一顆要價五到六美元。

There were many people who initially doubted the viability of this business.

一開始有很多人質疑這個事業的可行性。

But we are currently delivering ice to between 10 and 20 Michelin starred restaurants.

但我們目前正供應冰塊給 10 到 20 家米其林星級餐廳。

And our clients in New York City number in the high triple digits.

而我們紐約市的客戶數量高達三位數。

We're going to a place called the Rosevale Cocktail Room, which is a new client and also a new bar.

我們要去一個叫做 Rosevale Cocktail Room 的地方，這是我們的新客戶，也是一家新酒吧。

The beverage director is Willy Schein, who is a very good friend of mine from back in the day.

飲料總監 Willy Schein，他是我以前的老朋友。

He has a big beard but an even bigger heart.

他留著大鬍子，但心地更為善良。

I heard you guys make really good cocktails here.

聽說你們這裡的雞尾酒做得超讚的。

I mean, you know, the one thing I could say about Richie, whenever he commits to something, it's, it's, it's literally all in.

我想，你知道，關於 Richie 我只能說，他一旦決定要做什麼事，就是百分之兩百投入。

We started this all those years ago by bartenders, for bartenders, so that our people could make the best possible cocktail.

我們當年由調酒師創立，為調酒師而創，這樣我們的夥伴就能調出最棒的雞尾酒。

And now all over the world, it's almost obligatory to go into a bar and see a big ice cube, which is beautiful because it means that all the things that we did all those years ago changed the way people are drinking now 20 years later.

現在全世界，幾乎所有酒吧都會擺上大冰塊，這很棒，因為這代表我們當年所做的一切，改變了大家現在的飲酒方式，過了二十年還是如此。

And listen, I travel a lot when people are using big cubes.

聽著，我常出差，看到大家使用大冰塊。

I'm like, you know where this all started?

我就會想，你知道這一切是從哪裡開始的嗎？

I was in New York City with my man Richie Picado.

我當時在紐約，跟我哥們 Richie Picado 一起。

We had less than 10 clients when we first started this business.

我們剛開始做這門生意時，客戶不到十個。

This business was built upon our reputation as bartenders and nothing else.

這門生意是靠我們調酒師的名聲建立起來的，除此之外沒有別的。

We have never sought out any paid publicity.

我們也從沒尋求過任何付費的宣傳。

Everything that has ever sustained the success of this business has been done upon the merits of the product itself.

一直以來支撐這門生意成功的，都是產品本身的優點。