Photo courtesy of FirstBuild.

You know those crunchy, semi-chewable nuggets of ice you can get at places like Sonic? People are apparently huge fans of that ice over the typical cubes you'll get out of a freezer at home.

Sonic's ice, also dubbed "Nugget Ice," also has the benefit of absorbing the flavor of whatever beverage the ice is in better than regular ice cubes. It's perfect for cooling down drinks or cocktails without diluting the flavor.

Turns out that a new ice machine exists that lets you affordably make this "Nugget Ice" at home. Called the Opal, it was manufactured by GE Appliances' FirstBuild and is priced at $499 (about a fourth of what "Nugget Ice" machines typically cost). It's equipped with a sensor that detects the fill level of the ice bucket to know when to automatically start and stop ice production and can hold up to three pounds of ice while producing up to 24 pounds per day.

The Opal was debuted on Indiegogo a couple of years ago and raised over $2.7 million, easily eclipsing its initial funding goal of around $150,000.

Thanks to the reasonable pricing compared to other available similar machines, you'll be able to get one for yourself and impress friends by adding the trendy "Nugget Ice" cubes into your cocktails and other cool beverages.

With summer just around the corner, there couldn't be a better time for the Opal to debut.