Make these flavored ice cubes and serve them in drinks, and you'll have your guests saying "wow."

Don't sweat the rising temperatures. Just drop one of these ice cubes infused with fruits, veggies, and herbs into a tall glass of water, and watch the heat melt away.

Get the Cucumber-Basil Puree
Get the Orange-Lime Mix
Get the Lemonade-Raspberry

To suspend flowers in the cubes, work in layers: Fill an ice tray (one that makes large cubes so the ice will last longer) a quarter of the way with water, add flowers facing down, and freeze. Add more water to fill halfway, and freeze. Fill to the top, and freeze again. 

For ice that's especially clear, use distilled water that has been boiled and then cooled. This limits impurities and air bubbles, which make ice cloudy. 

Use only edible flowers, such as orchids, nasturtiums, pansies, and snapdragons, that have been grown to be eaten (to ensure they haven't been treated with chemicals).

The first sip is just right, but by the time you get to the bottom of a long, cool glass of iced coffee, you're drinking a watery shadow of your former beverage. If the ice is made from coffee, it won't dilute your drink as it melts. Freeze hot coffee (or tea, if you prefer) in an ice-cube tray, then use the cubes to cool your brew.

Puree celery and fennel, add a little bit of fresh lemon juice and salt to season, then freeze. Serve in bloody Marys for a match made in ice heaven.

Party punch calls for festive ice: giant frozen cubes capturing bright slices of fresh citrus. To make the ice, thinly slice lemons, limes, and oranges, and layer the slices in muffin cups. Fill each cup halfway with water or nonalcoholic punch, and freeze.

Breed gummy worms in ice and infest a cold kid's drink. Put the worms in an ice-cube tray, letting them stick out of the top and sprawl over the edges, and fill tray with water; freeze. Add cubes to a clear beverage, and watch as kids squirm with delight.