Bar Tools

Ice Tongs

Ice tongs are sprung metal tongs, about 15 to 20cm long in the ones we use for a bucket (Urban Bar’s own small Ergo tongs are 12cm), for lifting one piece of ice at a time. They set a large cube or sphere into a rocks glass without a hand touching it and without a splash, and they keep fingers and glasses out of the ice bucket.

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A pair of brushed stainless steel ice tongs made from one sprung bow, with toothed tips.

The tool

About the Ice Tongs

Hands Stay Out of the Ice

Ice goes into a drink that is never cooked, so whatever touches it ends up in the glass.

A hand is warm and wet. Each cube you touch starts melting where your fingers were, and the water you leave behind pools in the bucket.

A hand has also been on bottles, the bar top and a phone. Food safety guidance treats ice for drinks as a food for that reason, and tongs or a scoop keep fingers out of it.

Never Scoop With a Glass

Scooping ice with the glass you are about to fill is quick, which is why many bars ban it outright.

Glass chips in ice. A rim knocked against a frozen cube can lose a flake without a sound, the flake is invisible among the ice, and it can end up in a drink.

If a glass breaks in the bucket, all of the ice has to go, because you cannot see glass in ice.

Tongs or a Scoop

They do different jobs.

A scoop moves volume: filling a shaker, loading a highball, packing a glass with crushed ice. It is fast and holds a dozen cubes.

Tongs place a single piece: one large cube in a Penicillin or an Amaretto Sour, or in a Vieux Carré, where tipping it from a scoop would splash. They also reach into a narrow bucket without disturbing the rest.

If you buy one, buy a scoop. If you serve drinks over a single large cube, buy both.

Ways to move ice, compared

Tongs

Good for: One large cube or sphere, placed gently
Problem: Slow for volume

Scoop

Good for: Filling shakers and glasses quickly
Problem: Imprecise; can splash a built drink

Hand

Good for: Nothing behind a bar
Problem: Warms, wets and contaminates the ice

Glass

Good for: Nothing
Problem: Chips invisibly into the ice; a break loses the whole bucket

Tool	Good for	Problem
Tongs	One large cube or sphere, placed gently	Slow for volume
Scoop	Filling shakers and glasses quickly	Imprecise; can splash a built drink
Hand	Nothing behind a bar	Warms, wets and contaminates the ice
Glass	Nothing	Chips invisibly into the ice; a break loses the whole bucket

Choosing a Pair

Look at the tips first. Toothed or claw tips grip a wet cube; smooth flat tips slide off it. Sprung tongs, a single bow of metal that holds itself open, work in one hand.

Choose solid stainless steel rather than plated metal, which can flake with wear.

Keep them dry between uses. Damp tongs left resting in the ice freeze to it.

Using it

Using the Ice Tongs

Usage

Placing a large cube or sphere into a rocks glass for drinks such as the Penicillin, Amaretto Sour and Vieux Carré, and lifting single pieces from a bucket. Not for filling a shaker; that wants a scoop.

Pro Tip

Set the large cube in the glass before you pour or strain, and pour down the side of the glass. The cube stays put and the drink does not splash.

Professional Tips

Grip a large cube at its corners.
Lower the cube in; do not drop it.
Keep them dry and out of the ice between uses.
A scoop for volume, tongs for one piece.

Alternatives

Budget Alternative

A clean ice scoop does most of the work, and a pair of stainless kitchen tongs with toothed ends will place a large cube at home.

Premium Option

Solid stainless steel tongs with a firm spring and sharp, even teeth. The money buys a grip that holds a wet sphere without slipping.

Specifications

Material
Stainless steel
Capacity
Not applicable
Details
Sprung bow, about 15 to 20cm long in the ones we use (Urban Bar’s own small Ergo tongs 12cm), with toothed or claw tips

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

Why use ice tongs?

To move ice without touching it. A hand is warm and wet and has touched everything else on the bar, and a glass can chip invisibly into the ice. Tongs place a cube precisely without melting, wetting or contaminating it.

Ice tongs or an ice scoop?

Both, if you can. A scoop moves volume, filling shakers and highballs, where precision does not matter. Tongs place a single piece, which is what a drink over one large cube needs. If you only buy one, buy the scoop.

What tongs hold large cubes?

Ones with toothed or claw tips, which bite into a wet surface; smooth flat tips slide off. Grip a large cube at the corners rather than the flat faces, where the teeth have more to catch, and lower it into the glass rather than dropping it.

Are ice tongs more hygienic than hands?

Yes. Ice goes into a drink that is never cooked, so anything on your fingers goes into the glass with it. Food safety guidance treats ice for drinks as a food, which is why bars use tongs or a scoop and never bare hands.

How long are ice tongs?

The ones we use are about 15 to 20cm long, and Urban Bar’s own small Ergo tongs 12cm: long enough to reach into a bucket without your knuckles touching the ice and short enough to control in one hand. Longer tongs suit deep buckets and big blocks.

How do you clean ice tongs?

Wash them after use with a little detergent and warm water, rinse, and dry fully before putting them away. During service, rest them on a clean, dry surface or in a holder, not in the ice, where they freeze in and drip into the bucket.

Sources.

Correct as of 18 October 2026.

Urban Bar, “Ergo Stainless Steel Ice Tongs 12cm”.

Make something

Made with the Ice Tongs

Used In These Cocktails

French Connection Penicillin Honey Sour Vieux Carré Amaretto Sour Black Russian

Related Equipment

Updated 18 October 2026

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