Keeping Party Drinks Cool
As luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin – voted the ‘Coolest Brand’ in the UK 1n 2014 – launches a £17 750 ice bucket, I have to admire the seventy seven people who can own one as it looks just as stylish as the legendary cars.
But on a more modest budget, you can still invent stylish, fun and slightly wacky ways of keeping party drinks cool this summer. Here’s just a few:
-Vintage party – we used a roll-top Victorian bath which we filled with ice and bottles of beer. Simple, eclectic and fun.
-Ice Luge – We used a giant vodka luge in the shape of an Aston Martin that kept the drinks chilled and also formed part of the décor for our ‘Bond’ night.
-For a party we had individual ice buckets for every table, sculpted from coloured ice and the company logo etched on each one.
-For a Formula One party we put red lighting in the bottom of old oil drums, followed by a false Perspex ‘lid’ to seal the lighting and then filled to the top with crushed ice. Placed bottled beers in the top and it created an amazing ice bucket with ‘coloured ice’.
-I have filled old bin lids with crushed ice and displayed mini-bottles of Champagne in them for a themed ‘Oliver’ party.
-Use frozen drinks! Popular at summer parties are frozen vodka ice lollies or maybe an ice cream van with ‘alcoholic’ ice creams and Pimms ice lollies.
-Try putting a bottle of vodka into an ice bucket. Add small seasonal flowers around the bottle and gently fill with water. When frozen, carefully remove the ice and bottle from the bucket and you have an iced ‘sleeve’ from which to serve the vodka. Looks amazing too.
-You can hire some amazing ice buckets these days – I like the LED ones that mean you have an illuminated ice bucket which looks perfect at a hip house party.
-I have used wine ‘sleeves’ for keeping wine cool and thermal ‘beer sleeves’ for bottled beers. Even the inexpensive ones can help, but the better the quality the longer the chill lasts.
-Try freezing the glasses before you serve beer – helps to keep it chilled.
-You can buy bottle holders for wine and Champagne sculpted from ice – the look really amazing and last all night so you can keep using them to chill wines until the party is over. There are lots of suppliers online who will also deliver to your home.
-I have filled everything from metal planters for a winter garden party to stainless steel dust bin lids for house parties. As long as you keep the crushed ice topped up, it really keeps the drinks cool.
Keeping party drinks cool as the temperatures rise is a crucial aspect of your event planning. Just be creative – and enjoy!