Best Lewis Bags for Crushed Ice (2026 Buying Guide)

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Crushed ice is the secret behind juleps, swizzles, and cobblers, and nothing makes it better than a Lewis bag. This simple canvas sack does one thing brilliantly: it absorbs the meltwater as you pound the ice, leaving you with dry, fluffy, snow-like pebbles instead of a wet slush. Blenders and crushers cannot match the texture, and they add electricity and noise to a job a bag and a mallet do in seconds. The details that separate a good Lewis bag from a frustrating one come down to materials and construction. You want heavyweight untreated canvas that wicks water without leaching anything into your ice, tight double stitching that survives repeated pounding, and a size that suits how much ice you make at a time. We also look at how easily each bag dries out between uses, since a damp canvas bag left balled up is asking for mildew. Below we cover bags on their own plus a few that come paired with a proper wooden mallet, so you can start crushing right out of the box. Whether you are outfitting a serious home bar or just want better juleps, the right bag makes crushed ice effortless.