5 Drink Storage Ideas To Keep Beverages Chilled And Ready This Festive Season
During the festive season home hosting gatherings is a common occurrence and food and drink feasts are prepared in abundance in one’s kitchen. This is the time of the year when hours are spent planning the perfect menu that will cater to the food preferences of all the guests. It is also a time when creative cocktails and mocktails are concocted to match the theme of the festive season. It is a small wonder then that much thought is put into how these drinks can be kept chilled and ready ahead of the party.
Many times, for such parties, bulk alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are prepared like the margarita or the shirley temple and these are stored in large dispensers so they can be served to a large crowd. As well, bottles of wines, beers and premade cocktails also need to be chilled and kept ready before guests start arriving so they can be welcomed with a cool drink.
Evidently, it is essential to have some hacks under one’s sleeve which would make this process of keeping drinks cool easier.
Read on below for some tips to keep beverages chilled and ready to be served ahead of one’s festive gathering this season:
Use Ice Buckets
One of the simplest hacks to keeping drinks chilled at a party is to use ice buckets. These can hold several bottles of wine, beer, soda and mocktails and when they are well-insulated, will keep the drinks chilled for longer.
Ice buckets are also portable; so, if the party is happening outdoors or on the porch of one’s home, they are handy enough to be transported to these spaces.
During the festive season, one can go for brightly coloured ice buckets or simply decorate simple ice buckets at home to introduce the feel of a special occasion into the cooler.
Pour Drinks In Chilled Glasses
Another way to store drinks like cocktails or mocktails during these times of merrymaking is to pour them in chilled glasses. Once the drink is prepared in a large container, it can be transferred into cocktail glasses that have been chilled in the fridge before pouring the drink.
These serving glasses can then be refrigerated to be brought out once it is time to circulate them among guests.
Serving drinks in chilled glasses also slows down the process of the drink becoming warmer and coming to room temperature.
Insulated Drink Dispensers
Another clever way to chill drinks ahead of a festive party is to utilise insulated drink dispensers. These are generally cylindrical or cube-shaped containers which can hold bulk cocktails like sangrias, mojitos and margaritas.
The dispensers are designed to keep drinks cool for long hours so that one batch of a cocktail would remain chilled enough to cater to several guests through the course of the night.
Some of these drink dispensers also come with an ice core which keeps the festive mixes cool without diluting them.
Flavoured Ice Cubes
Making flavoured ice cubes can turn out to be quite a handy trick for keeping drinks cool during the festive season. These ice cubes can be prepared by placing fruit chunks in ice trays or making ice out of garnishes like basil, thyme and mint.
For this, place the herbs or garnishes in the ice tray and submerge them in water.
When the water freezes, the ice cubes will acquire an aesthetic look and help to keep drinks cool for long without diluting their flavour.
Cooling Sleeves For Spirit Bottles
When one is planning an outdoor gathering for the festive season or a picnic-style meal out on the lawn or the patio, keeping spirits chilled becomes all the more imperative as the outdoor sun might quickly bring the drinks to room temperature.
At such times, cooling sleeves can be used to store wine or champagne bottles or even bottles containing cocktails so they stay cool even after being brought out of the refrigerator. The bottles can be put into the sleeve when opened too so they continue to remain cool.
Cocktails can also be prepared in advance, chilled in the fridge and then stored in these cooling sleeves so they can be carried to an outdoor festive gathering.
Do remember: like everything, alcohol is best consumed in moderation. Drink and serve responsibly!
