Hot summer days call for cool summer drinks. Whether your tipple is an iced tea, fruit crush, or a whisky on the rocks you'll need plenty of ice to keep cool. If you are preparing liquid refreshment for yourself or serving the needs of parched punters, an ice machine may be just what you need.

We all know the frustration of the usual ways of keeping up with ice consumption, especially in a busy household, at a party or even when running a business. Filling up plastic trays, ice cube bags and waiting for hours for it to freeze, only to find that it's all gone a couple of drinks later. Or in the flurry of an impromptu gathering having to buy bags of ice and keep it from turning to water when the freezer is just too full. Even the best laid plans can go awry - Having a stockpile of ice ready for busy bar hours, only to find oneself with an unexpected rush that hasn't been accounted for. These problems can be alleviated with an Ice Machine. There is a choice of built-in units, or tabletop versions, the type required will depend on expected consumption.

For the domestic user, a low-use portable version that can be used at home, on a boat, caravan or holiday home will produce a cube a minute, and comes with a clever device to tell you when the ice is ready and when the reservoir needs refilling. For moderate use in a guest house, small bar or restaurant a larger table top version produces cubes at a faster rate and has a greater ice storage facility, up to 2kg, to get through those busy times. These types of machines can be bought for under 200 GBP. The benefits of having a tabletop unit is that it does not need to be plumbed in, as it has no drain hoses and is filled manually rather than fed by a mains water connection, making it portable, practical and easy to squeeze in wherever it is needed.

If demand is of a greater scale, industrial sized units, starting at 50kg will produce 2kg of ice an hour and costs around 900 GBP. A 250kg unit can cost in the region of 3000 GBP, and churn out a whopping 10kg of an ice and hour and has the capacity to store 100kg of the icy nuggets, to keep up with a constant high demand. The installation of these machines is similar to installing a washing machine as they require connection to a mains water supply, as well as needing a drainage route and an electrical supply.

Both the domestic and industrial machines have settings for variable cube size and type; bullet-shaped to crescent and square; ultra hard cubes and crystal clear ice. The way the water is fed through the machine is the major factor that determines the type and quality of the ice produced. When water is poured straight into a reservoir where it then hardens, it will produce a lower quality cube than one that has been processed using moving water. The faster that rate, the higher the quality as impurities will be eliminated, this is judged by the hardness of the cube; the more impurities, the softer the ice. The most common processes in commercial machines are vertical and horizontal evaporation, with horizontal being judged as the best producer of crystal clear and super hard ice.