Not every bar can get their ice from a New York City institution. But that doesn't mean they have to settle for cloudy, fast-melting commercial ice either. Enter Clear Cut Ice Co., a New Jersey based craft cocktail ice company that has been quietly building one of the most respected clear ice operations on the East Coast since 2019.
Founded in Tinton Falls, NJ by Max Kimble and Sam Leal, Clear Cut Ice Co. supplies hand-cut, crystal clear ice to bars, restaurants, distilleries, and events across New Jersey and the greater New York area. If you're in the market for premium cocktail ice or simply researching who the players are in this space, this guide covers everything you need to know.
What Is Clear Cut Ice Co.?
Clear Cut Ice Co. is a craft cocktail ice manufacturer and distributor headquartered at 3092 Shafto Road in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, with an additional production facility in Deer Park, New York on Long Island. Founded in 2019 by Max Kimble and Sam Leal, the company was built around a straightforward mission: provide bars and restaurants with extraordinarily clear ice that elevates the drinking experience in every glass.
Unlike the massive commercial ice operations that supply bagged cubes to grocery stores and convenience stores, Clear Cut Ice Co. operates as a true craft producer, hand-cutting every piece of ice to order and delivering on a weekly schedule to their accounts. Their clients include restaurants, cocktail bars, distilleries, wedding and event planners, and spirits brands looking for premium ice for photoshoots and production work.
The company also operates a dedicated New York arm, Clear Cut Ice New York, running out of their Long Island facility to serve the greater NYC market directly.
The Clear Cut Ice Co. Story
Clear Cut Ice Co. launched in 2019, entering a craft cocktail ice market that was still relatively young outside of New York City. While Hundredweight Ice had established the category in Manhattan eight years earlier, the surrounding region, particularly New Jersey and Long Island, was largely underserved by premium clear ice suppliers.
Founders Max Kimble and Sam Leal saw that gap clearly. The craft cocktail movement had taken deep root in New Jersey and the outer boroughs of New York, and bar programs at that level demanded ice that matched the quality of what they were pouring. The idea that a bar in Asbury Park or Jersey City had to settle for inferior ice because they weren't in Manhattan no longer made sense.
Clear Cut Ice Co. built their operation around the Clinebell block ice method, the same directional freezing technology used by the best craft ice producers in the country, and invested in hand-cutting processes that let them fulfill custom size requests and produce ice to exact specification for each client.
The company has grown steadily since launch and now operates across two states, serving a loyal base of hospitality accounts that rely on their product week in and week out.
What Clear Cut Ice Co. Produces
Clear Cut Ice Co. offers one of the more comprehensive product lineups in the regional craft ice market. All of their ice is hand-cut and delivered weekly. Their standard offerings include:
Cocktail Cubes
Clear Cut produces four cube formats to accommodate different glassware and program needs. The Mini Cube at 1.5 inches, the Small Cube at 1.75 inches, the Large Cube at 2 inches. the industry standard for Old Fashioneds and spirit-forward cocktails and their Monument Cube at 2x2.5 inches for bars that want an oversized statement piece in a wide-mouth rocks glass. Specialty sizes are also available on request.
Highball Spears
Their 1.5-inch by 5-inch Highball Spear is built for Collins glasses, highball pours, and any sparkling cocktail where you want ice that reaches the full length of the glass. Slow-melting, optically clear, and sized to fit precisely, it's the format that makes a gin and tonic look like it belongs on a cocktail menu rather than a happy hour list.
Ice Spheres
Clear Cut offers a 2.5-inch sphere a format that's particularly popular in premium spirit presentations, whiskey bars, and high-end event settings. The sphere's geometry minimizes surface area contact with the liquid, which means even slower dilution than a cube of equivalent size.
Custom Stamp Fabrication
One of Clear Cut's more distinctive offerings is their custom ice stamp service, allowing bars, restaurants, and brands to press a logo, emblem, or design directly into the surface of the ice. This is particularly popular for branded cocktail experiences, luxury events, and spirits companies looking to use ice as a marketing touchpoint at tastings and launch events.
Who Uses Clear Cut Ice Co.?
Clear Cut Ice Co. serves a broad range of clients across the hospitality and events industry. On the bar and restaurant side, their accounts include cocktail-focused establishments across New Jersey and metro New York that want to run a serious ice program without building out their own in-house production.
Their distillery relationships are a notable differentiator. Clear Cut supplies craft distilleries with premium ice for tastings, tours, and retail, a category that Hundredweight, operating primarily in NYC, doesn't focus on as directly. For a New Jersey or Long Island distillery looking to elevate their tasting room experience, Clear Cut is often the first call.
On the events side, they serve weddings, corporate events, and private gatherings, a segment where the visual impact of clear ice translates directly into the kind of shareable moments that end up on social media and in wedding photography. Their custom stamp service was built specifically for this market.
Clear Cut Ice Co. vs. Other New Jersey Clear Ice Suppliers
The New Jersey craft cocktail ice market has grown meaningfully over the last few years. Clear Cut Ice Co. is one of several producers now operating in the region, each with a slightly different focus:
Clear Cut occupies a strong middle ground, more established and broader in product range than many smaller local operations, but more regionally focused and relationship-driven than a large-scale national supplier. Their custom stamp capability and distillery relationships set them apart on the specialty side of the market.
For bars evaluating their options, the key questions are usually around delivery schedule, minimum order size, format availability, and the depth of the supplier relationship. Clear Cut's weekly delivery model and multi-format lineup make them a strong option for accounts that want flexibility.
The ROI of Upgrading to Clear Cocktail Ice
Whether you're considering Clear Cut Ice Co. or any other craft ice supplier, the business case for upgrading to clear ice is worth understanding clearly, because it's not just about aesthetics.
Bars that switch to premium clear ice consistently find they can justify charging $1 to $3 more per cocktail. That pricing uplift is real and documented across the craft cocktail industry. Guests associate visual quality with overall quality and a 2-inch crystal cube in a rocks glass signals a level of craft that a cloudy machine cube simply cannot.
On a program doing 100 cocktails per night, even a $1 per drink increase adds up to $3,000 in additional monthly revenue. Against a typical monthly ice spend of $400 to $800, the math is not complicated. The ice is not a cost, it's a revenue driver.
Beyond the pricing angle, clear ice melts more slowly than standard commercial ice. That means less dilution over the life of a drink, better flavor integrity from first sip to last, and guests who are more satisfied with what they ordered, which drives reorders and overall spend per table.
Wolfe & Kensington: Another New Jersey Craft Ice Option Worth Knowing
For bars and restaurants evaluating clear ice suppliers in the New Jersey and New York City market, Wolfe & Kensington is another producer worth considering alongside Clear Cut Ice Co.
Also New Jersey based, Wolfe & Kensington specializes in the two formats that define the core of any serious cocktail ice program: the 2x2 Cocktail Cube and the Collins Spear. Both are produced using directional freezing that removes impurities and air bubbles, delivering the same optical clarity that has become the standard for premium cocktail programs.
Where Wolfe & Kensington differentiates is in their direct, flexible approach to working with accounts. No long-term contracts, straightforward ordering, and a genuine interest in building lasting relationships with the bars and restaurants on their route. They're actively expanding their NYC delivery footprint and currently onboarding new accounts across both New Jersey and Manhattan.
FAQ: Clear Cut Ice Co. and Craft Cocktail Ice in New Jersey
Where is Clear Cut Ice Co. located?
Clear Cut Ice Co.'s New Jersey production facility is located at 3092 Shafto Road in Tinton Falls, NJ 07753. They also operate a Long Island facility in Deer Park, NY, which serves the greater New York City market under the Clear Cut Ice New York brand.
Who founded Clear Cut Ice Co.?
Clear Cut Ice Co. was founded by Max Kimble and Sam Leal and has been operating since 2019. The company serves bars, restaurants, distilleries, and events across New Jersey and the New York area.
What ice formats does Clear Cut Ice Co. offer?
Clear Cut Ice Co. produces four cocktail cube sizes (1.5", 1.75", 2.0", and 2x2.5" Monument), a 1.5"x5" Highball Spear, a 2.5" sphere, and custom stamp fabrication for branded ice. Specialty sizes are available on request.
Does Clear Cut Ice Co. serve events and weddings?
Yes. In addition to their bar and restaurant accounts, Clear Cut Ice Co. actively serves weddings, corporate events, and private gatherings. Their custom stamp service makes them particularly well-suited for high-end branded events.
What is the difference between Clear Cut Ice Co. and other NJ craft ice suppliers?
Clear Cut Ice Co. is one of the more established craft ice operations in New Jersey, with a multi-format product lineup and a dual-state production footprint. Other NJ-based suppliers like Wolfe & Kensington serve overlapping markets with a focus on the 2x2 cube and Collins Spear formats, flexible terms, and direct account relationships.
How much does craft cocktail ice cost for a New Jersey bar?
Most bar accounts in the region budget between $200 and $800 per month for craft cocktail ice depending on volume and format. The investment typically pays for itself quickly, bars using premium clear ice can generally justify charging $1 to $3 more per cocktail, often recovering the monthly ice cost within the first week of service.
Can I get clear cocktail ice in New Jersey without a long-term commitment?
Yes. Both Clear Cut Ice Co. and other regional suppliers like Wolfe & Kensington operate without long-term contracts. The standard arrangement is weekly delivery on a flexible schedule, making it easy for bars to try premium ice without locking into anything upfront.
Final Thoughts
Clear Cut Ice Co. has built a serious operation in New Jersey, one that has earned genuine respect in the regional bar and restaurant community since launching in 2019. Their multi-format product lineup, custom stamp capability, and presence across both NJ and Long Island make them a capable supplier for a range of account types.
If you're a bar, restaurant, distillery, or event planner in New Jersey or the New York area evaluating your craft ice options, Clear Cut Ice Co. is absolutely worth considering. So is taking a closer look at the full landscape of regional suppliers, because the craft cocktail ice market in this part of the country has never been more competitive, which ultimately means better options and better pricing for the bars doing the buying.