If you struggle to keep your drinks cool and crisp while in the park or at the beach, this fast and cheap hack has you covered – just be sure to enjoy any alcohol responsibly
With summer (thankfully) in full swing, many of us are making the most of the sunshine by heading to the beach or the park to enjoy a picnic. And while some organised people might go equipped with a cool bag and perfectly chilled wine, not all of us are that forward-thinking.
Luckily there’s a simple and very cheap hack to cool your bottle of plonk, fizzy water, or soft drink of choice without needing a fridge or freezer. Shared by the account Cocktails on Instagram, it revealed all you need is 20 minutes, ice, and salt to chill your drink to perfection.
They explained: “Add ice to a bucket, make a hole for the bottle and place your wine in there. Add salt around the ice, cover with more ice, top off with a little more salt and wait.” It won’t be long before you have a chilled bottle of drink.
If you don’t have access to a suitable bucket, one ingenious person suggested in the comments: “Buy a bag of ice from the shop and a bag for life and do it in that. Easy!” Other people weren’t as convinced with many writing they’d be sticking to a fridge or freezer, until another user pointed out that those appliances aren’t available in the park or at the beach.
They added: “To everyone mentioning ‘put it in freezer’, you don’t always have access to a freezer if you are out and about.”
Some users were confused about the point of the salt with the ice to chill the bottle more quickly. But here comes the science bit! Adding salt to ice water lowers the freezing point of water, allowing the ice to melt at a lower temperature and the water to become colder faster. This process can chill wine up to a third faster than a regular ice bath, sometimes in as little as five minutes.
Lots of people were suitably impressed with the hack and rushed to comment underneath the video. One person added: “When you are at a hotel or out and about, you don’t have access to a freezer, this is the next best thing.”
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