As a bar owner, you have to keep a tight rein on your budget. Any time you can make something more cost-efficient is a blessing. Ice is actually one of the easiest ways to improve your costs because its effects are so far-reaching. If you switch from small ice cubes to large cubes, you will eventually notice a few improvements in everything from your water bill to your bar's reputation.
Yes, This Affects Your Reputation
A large ice cube has less overall surface area than five or six smaller cubes, which means the large ice cube melts more slowly overall. That means there is less water entering the drink and less of a diluting effect. Your customers won't ignore this, and you could find your reputation improving (even if it's already good) because people will begin to remember your bar as one that doesn't water down drinks. The lack of dilution will also allow the taste of the drinks to remain sharper and stronger, which also makes its mark on drinkers.
Visual Effects of Large and Small Cubes
One of the rules of buying drinks on a budget is to ask for little to no ice because that reduces the amount of drink you get. Placing five or six small ice cubes in a glass may make it look like you're trying to weasel out of giving the customer a full drink even if the cubes are small and don't really affect the amount of drink that gets poured into the glass.
But one large ice cube doesn't give that impression. A sharp, cubic profile with clear ice looks classy, and the fact that there is only one ice cube is a better visual for the person ordering the drink.
Better Temperature Control
You put ice in a drink because you want it cold, but you don't want it frozen. More surface area on ice (when you use several smaller cubes) means more of the drink is exposed to freezing temperatures, and more ice melt means more near-freezing water is diffusing through the drink. That can adversely affect the taste of the drink. One large cube has less exposed surface area and thus exposes less of the drink to such cold temperatures.
There's nothing wrong with keeping small ice cubes on hand, but add a machine that makes large cubes as well. Some machines, such as those from Kold Draft, have options to choose cube size. When you have the ability to make larger cubes, you'll find that you use those more and more. Contact a supplier of Kold Draft cube ice to learn more.