There’s a quiet precision to the way Jason Browne talks about ice. As the founder of Kodama Ice Co, he’s built a business around something most people overlook, celebrating it as an essential part of the drinking experience. Informed by years spent in Vancouver’s cocktail scene and a formative pull toward Japan’s meticulous approach to craft, Kodama Ice Co is the product of clarity, detail and balance. 

We spoke with Jason at Kodama's new production space, where each block is frozen slowly over days, carved with care, and shaped into something both functional and unexpectedly beautiful. 

Q: Words your family/friends would use to describe you? 

A: Methodical, introspective, prudent adventurer.

Q: People often see ice as “just ice.” What’s something you wish everyone understood about its role in a drink? 

A: Ice is the foundation of a good cocktail, and a beautiful piece of ice brings everything else into harmony. It’s used in many different forms to balance the ratio of ingredients and create a harmonious cocktail, which is the most important thing. And then there’s the aesthetic, which for us is clear ice. That's kind of what the purpose of Kodama is: to make clear ice that accentuates the beauty of the drink itself.

Q: Walk us through your process.

A: We start with water that has come through a multi stage filtration process and then frozen slowly over the course of 3 days to create a 300lb block that's free from bubbles and imperfections. After the block has been lifted out, it’s broken down into smaller and smaller sizes by a series of saws until it’s small enough to fit into your glass.

Q: You’ve talked before about how Japan’s cocktail culture influenced you. Was there a specific drink, bar, or moment that flipped the switch for you? 

A: I’m half Japanese, so I went there a lot up until my teenage years, and I didn't really go back for a long time. When I did, the difference was that I had been bartending and drinking.


In Tokyo, 2017, I walked into this incredible listening bar through a nondescript door in Ebisu. Bar Martha. Rather than a host, the first thing to greet me were 2 bartenders who were carving immaculate ice spheres by hand in mere seconds. It really turns into a personal experience, sitting there and watching the showmanship of that bartender making your drink. It harks back to craft being artisanal.


It would be great to be able to do something like that in Vancouver, but the fact is, you don't find spaces that are small enough, and the rent is so high. There has to be a threshold—you have to be able to make a certain amount of drinks to be able to make rent. I've walked past places in Tokyo where there's just one guy, he's got beer crates set out front of his shop and he's just making Jinkara-age and cocktails. In Japan, you just apply for a license, submit it to the city, they'll sign off and that's it. Whereas in Vancouver it takes years, and hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Q: What is the meaning of ‘Kodama’?

A: It means tree spirit in Japanese. You may have seen it in Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke; Kodama are those little tree spirits that are running through the forest. One of the main sects of religion in Japan is Shinto Buddhism. Shinto doesn't worship a God or a deity as such, it worships nature in itself and all the manifestations of spirits within that nature. The actual translation of Kodama is quite long-winded, but if you were to go to the top of a wooded valley on top of a mountain and shout down into the forest, the echo that comes back; that's Kodama.

Q: How would you describe your personal style? 

A: Understated. I'm very casual, but at the same time, I like to accentuate with just one statement piece.

Q: Describe your ideal dinner party. What’s being served, what’s playing in the background, and what’s in the glass? 

A: Somewhere outside at sunset cooking over a wood fire with a whole variety of meat with summers bountiful vegetables and salad. 4 piece bluegrass band in the back. Probably sipping on whisky highballs.

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