In June 2002 the world's first permanent Ice Bar opened in Stockholm at the Nordic Sea Hotel. The timing was planned to coincide with the 750th anniversary celebration of the founding of Stockholm.
The first year, 70000 customers visited the Ice Bar and since then it has continued to grow in popularity.
There may soon be an Ice bar coming to a location near you. The Absolut Icebar became a franchise in December 2003, and the second Absolut Icebar opened in Milan, Italy in October 2004. There is also a London Absolut Ice bar near the Picadilly Circus and Oxford Circus tube stations, and several others around the world, including an ice bar in St. Petersburg, Russia. The cold air of the Ice Bar could certainly cool down an overheated businessman or tourist in any city.
The Famous Ice Bar Glasses
The concept for the ice glasses was developed at the Ice Hotel in northern Sweden in 1995. The first ice glasses were cut by hand from river ice blocks taken from the pristine, crystal-clear Torne River of northern Sweden. Soon the ice glasses were so popular that a factory and production line were set up to manufacture the frozen glasses. Over 1 million glasses curved from the clear, pure river ice are used at the Ice Bars and Ice Hotel each year.
