At first glance the KC Ice Water seems like a crude dorm room concoction born of boredom and desperationโand for all we know that may be true. Not much is known of the drinkโs origin and, though itโs been around for at least a decade, itโs still a relatively obscure cocktail.
Attempting to track down where it came from leads to a number of theories originating in various cities across the U.S., from Philadelphia to Iowa City to somewhere in North Carolinaโbut oddly not to the Midwestern metropolis for which itโs named.
โIf I had to guess at its backstory, I would imagine that it was just the simple combo of two very common drinksโpossibly to tone down the stronger flavors of a Gin & Tonic for a college palate,โ says Scott Beskow, head bartender at Grรผnauer in Kansas City, who first served the drink at a bar called The Vine in Iowa City back in 1994. โPossibly the patron who liked the drink or the bartender who made it had a connection to KC, and followed the template of Long Island Iced Tea and gave it the rather simple name. Obviously that is pure conjecture, but I bet it was something like that.โ He also theorizes that the name could very well be a slight against locals. As he noted to The Pitch, the drink looks vaguely like โmurky water.โ
โThe original that I had at The Vine was well vodka, well gin, soda and tonic off the gun, served in a plastic cup with a lime garnish,โ says Beskow. More recently, he included it on the menu at the now-defunct M&S Grill in Kansas City. โI just upgraded to better spirits, bottled tonic, soda, and fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice with a wedge of each fruit as garnish in a pint glassโnothing really game changing.โ
At this point, where the drink came from is just a side note. Kansas City bartenders have embraced it as an approachable remedy for the nightmarish summer weather and offer plenty of variations that donโt include even a hint of 7-Up or gun tonic.
The version that Cohrs and Schulte have on tap combines a traditional gin and vodka base with blanc vermouth, which has a touch of sweetness, and a few dashes of fino sherry. They adiculate the concoction with citric acid powder for a finishing twinge of citrus and serve it over crushed ice. โWe wanted to find that acidity, add a little texture and balance and complexity,โ says Schulte.
Cohrs adds, โSure, itโs a Vodka-Soda-Gin-and-Tonic, but there are nuances that go into it.โ
Andrew Olsen, bar manager at Rye KC, pushes the drink into an even softer, botanical flavor profile. โThe KC Ice Water is one of the most popular drinks that we serve,โ he says. โI elevated this drink a bit more than the original recipe and stayed O.G. with the vodka/gin combo, but also added another layer using Kabinett Riesling and chamomile lemonade with a little soda water.โ
Olsen also says he uses crushed ice, a trick he picked up from the guys at The Monarch to make it โas cold as possible for optimal crushability.โ
In a more subtly monikered approach, Rockhill Grill includes a Local Ice Water on its menu that ditches the vodka all together, using a mix of J. Rieger & Co., Restless Spirits and Tomโs Town gins, Earl Grey tea, lemon juice and elderflower tonic.
Even the Midwestern supermarket chain Hy-Vee serves a KC Ice Water at its Market Grille Overland Park location. The recipe they use was developed for the chain by Ryan Maybee, proprietor of beloved Kansas City cocktail bars The Rieger and Manifesto and cofounder of J. Rieger & Co. distillery. It blends J. Riegerโs vodka and gin with fresh lime juice and Hy-Vee soda water, and then gets a simple garnish of lemon and lime wedges. Itโs not too fussy and is plenty refreshing.
When it comes down to it, no matter where the Kansas City Ice Water came from or how itโs tweaked and improved upon, this highly approachable and ultra-potent cocktail is just the thing to make triple-digit weather a little less terrible.
โI think the drink is perfect,โ says Olsen. โThe KC Ice Water is a transcendent, regional classic.โ