DrinksIce - the essential ingredient
Was it ice we were going to speak about? well sort of - it is about ice - but it"s really about drinks, because no one is interested ice except polar bears and Eskimos (and climate change scientists - and possibly the rest of us now we know what"s going on) - I digress already - doesn"t take long!
At events and functions a good steady flow of well chilled drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are the basis for your guests feeling well looked after and believe it or not this will enliven their conversation and sense of well-being, leading ultimately to the successful event that you are aiming at. If you add well groomed, professional servers to the mix - then things get even better. To bring this off one of your most essential ingredients will be - ice.
First thing about ice for your drinks is that you need good tubs to put it in! We like the ones that fit inside each other (like those Russian dolls that go endlessly inside each other... digressing again, tut-tut) - but if you turn them around they stack. That is very useful for larger functions where you want to keep a revolving system of tubs going which will chill your drinks and present the coldest to the server at waist level (for instance) - or, of course, where you are short of floor space - which is so very often the case.
Once you have your tubs sorted out you want to add your drinks - wine standing up. How many times we have seen the uninitiated empty their two 5kg bags of ice into a tub and then spend 10 minutes trying to jam the drink bottles into the unforgiving ice - only to have to scoop it to one side with their hands - and on it goes - not a pretty sight.
Further more - whilst heat rises, cold doesn"t! it sinks - so the best way to quickly chill your drinks is to stand up all your wine bottles in the tub (beers are better laid down side-by-side) and then take 1-2 5kg bags of ice and tip them on top. The ice will fill in all the cracks and you can wait for those particular drinks to get nice and frosty. btw - generally best to slam dunk the bag of ice on the floor before opening as the ice may be partially frozen together and then you have to get the kitchen knife out and start making out like your an actor in a Hitchcock movie or something!
Treat soft drinks the same as wine i.e. standing up if the are the 2L bottles or lying down like beers if they are the small individual ones.
Timing - One hour is plenty of time to chill your drinks if done this way. Quantity - 2x5kg bags per tub.
Another useful thing to remember is to keep those empty boxes once you have taken the bottles out and put them in the tub. You may have a deal with your alcohol supplier to return full slabs or you may just use them for storing unused bottles - equally they are great for the rubbish which you or someone (usually us) will have to deal with.