How to chill beverages without kitchen + logistics

April 11, 2014 1:48 PM

I am coordinating the memorial service for a good friend who died March 1st. The service is this Tuesday at a church without a commercial kitchen. I have 3 questions: My friend's widow is paying for the beverages, so there is no caterer involved. There's a concert, then speakers, so the refreshments won't be served until 9 pm. 1. How do I chill beverages (wine, beer, water + non-alcoholic choices) without a refrigerator? We are talking 170 people, in theory, which translates into a lot of liquids.

2. Wine experts are telling me to plan for 1 bottle to serve 2 people. But there will also be an espresso bar (in honour of my buddy, an espresso zealot/expert) and lots of other beverages. My friend's widow and I think 3 people per bottle is more realistic. Is this crazy? Your experiences, please.

3. Can y'all recommend a ratio of red wine to white wine to beer to non-alcoholic stuff?

Many, many thanks, hive mind!

posted by Bella Donna to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Borrow a shit-ton of coolers and get a bunch of ice. That'll keep everything frosty.

The good news is that things get very cold, very fast once in the ice, like less than an hour.

It depends on how much people drink and how long they'll be hanging around. One bottle will serve six 4 oz glasses.

I don't think people will use this occasion to get faced.

That's all I know.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:52 PM on April 11, 2014

You're going to need a LOT of ice, like a LOT, and it's going to be expensive, to the point where I would honestly consider buying a dorm fridge for like $100 and bringing it early to the venue to start chilling things. Also you should cram as much beer and white wine as possible into various fridges the night before to get a head start on chilling things.

My friend's widow is paying for the beverages, so there is no caterer involved.

She should shop around for a liquor store that will either rent her some ice tubs, or toss them in free of charge given how large her order is going to be. And/or, the store might be able to provide a jockey box and you can get by with a keg instead of hundreds of bottles of beer. If the church is cool with it, of course.

To me, one bottle of wine per 2 people sounds more like a wedding reception amount than a memorial service amount, but I am not an expert in covering a 170+ person party, so I will let others comment on that.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 1:57 PM on April 11, 2014

You can rent a beer keg with an ice bucket that will keep more beer cold with less ice for less money than you would with bottles and cans.
posted by munchingzombie at 2:06 PM on April 11, 2014 [2 favorites]

Could you rent a moderately sized chest freezer somewhere and just keep the temperature above freezing? This might be expensive but you've got a big event on your hands.

Otherwise, seconding borrowing lots of coolers and/or washtubs filled with ice, plus keg.

Seeking cheap ice: any friends with connections to an ice machine who will donate/let you fill up the coolers beforehand? Someone with a pickup truck or van to help transport? Totally random list of places that have ice machines: commercial kitchens, restaurants, hotels, maybe even a gym or fitness center, school cafeteria, other churches... Sometimes places like fast food restaurants will let you buy ice in bulk which could be cheaper than bags at the liquor/grocery store.
posted by dahliachewswell at 2:10 PM on April 11, 2014

I think the amount of booze you're going to need is going to depend heavily on the age of the person you're memorializing, the standard social gatherings of that group, and the length of the reception time. I've been to memorials where 1 bottle of wine per 3 people would have been overkill, and I've been to memorials where 3 bottles of wine per 1 person would have only been almost enough.
posted by amelioration at 2:11 PM on April 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ask around to caterers and restaurants (if you can) about getting ice. Some will give/sell it to you if you're persistent. Costs much less if you can shovel out an ice chest than buying bags at the supermarket.
posted by xingcat at 2:22 PM on April 11, 2014

It might be worth looking into dry ice, which ends up being about $1 to $1.50 a pound, and good for about 8 hours.
posted by klangklangston at 2:28 PM on April 11, 2014

I wouldn't bother with coolers if you use ice. Get those large party tubs and fill with ice and water. Using ice and water gets bottled and canned items cold much faster than ice alone. if you buy ice by the bag, it can get pricey, try to contact restaurants and caterers to see if they'll sell you ice form their large machines.

I don't think that people will be drinking a lot at 9pm on a Tuesday night, so more conservative estimates will probably be more than fine. Many people will probably leave after the service and won't be staying for extended socializing and drinking.
posted by quince at 2:35 PM on April 11, 2014 [2 favorites]

How long before you set up will you have to serve? You can pre-chill at home and then bring it to the memorial in coolers.

I've used dry ice - it is cheap and sublimates quickly, so you must have a closed cooler & good ventilation for the storage room. It is also really fucking cold. Consider mixing it with regular ice. We used it once to cool popsicles for a show and it was like a mass scale version of Christmas Story.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 2:40 PM on April 11, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks for the great advice, folks! In an ideal world, the set up would happen about 6:30 pm, because the service starts at 7 pm and everyone wants to be present for that.

The refreshments happen at 9 pm, so that 2.5 hours of just hanging out.

Any suggestions about the ratio of red to white wine? Is half and half about right? Seriously, I have no idea. I will be the bumpkin drinking beer because I don't care for wine.

Nah, I'll be drinking water. I have a 6:45 am flight to catch the next morning....

So water and ice mixed are good; discount ice, good; dry ice good but I'm good at injuring myself in random ways, so maybe not to avoid frostbite.

Any other ideas? Keep 'em coming. Thanks so much!!!
posted by Bella Donna at 3:00 PM on April 11, 2014

1/2 bottle of wine per person is a lot - it's what you'd expect to serve at a dinner party, where pretty much everybody was drinking wine. I would guess 1 bottle for 4 people is more like it, less if many of them are elderly, or non-drinkers. But I know you & the widow don't want to be caught short, so the thing to do is find a liquor store that will take back unused wine. A lot will, for an event like this, IF the goods come back in pristine condition - meaning the white wine has not been dunked in the cooler. Half and half white and red is not a bad guess, maybe 60/40 white to red.

I personally would go with ice & water with tubs and ice chests - it's easy, and not _that_ expensive - and I'd chill my low-ball estimate for white wine & beer, and if it seemed to be going fast I'd restock from the reserves.

So, if I do the math, and ignore the beer drinkers, you should buy 4 cases of white & 3 of red, chill 2 cases of the white & watch what happens. And I bet you'll have 2 cases of white and 1 of red you can return.
posted by mr vino at 3:26 PM on April 11, 2014

I work for a wine distributor and we donate a lot of wine to events. 1 bottle per 2 people is insane overkill, especially if you're having other beverages. Not everyone is going to drink, and of those who do drink not everyone will have more than 1 or 2 drinks. You are definitely, definitely safe on a 1:3 ratio and I personally think you'd be fine going even lower than that.

More people will drink white than red. Especially if it's warm outside.
posted by something something at 4:46 PM on April 11, 2014 [2 favorites]

What we did at me wedding (in July) was to get plain white cardboard paint buckets from a paint store, decorate them, and set them up on tables a few hours before the wedding along with cheap corkscrews. We poured in a generous amount of ice and then went to get married. The white wine was nicely chilled. We allotted 4 glasses per bottle, 2 drinks per person and we had a shit ton of wine left over.

You might also consider going to a rental place and get a very large cooler or two, which will set you back about $35 for something coffin-sized. You might also ask/look for an ice table which won't seal (and hence will melt sooner), but will easily keep everything cold and will also act as a serving station. Seriously - 8 large bags of ice won't melt in 3 hours and what melts is still very cold water.
posted by plinth at 5:06 PM on April 11, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks, everybody. Your advice has been fabulous. And so appreciated. Just one more follow up question.

Turns out that there is a Trader Joe's within 2 miles of the church and it is willing to chill the beverages I buy. If I have them picked up at 8:15 pm, will they be too warm at 9? Should I have them picked up at 8:30 pm instead?

That's cutting it close for set up but the whole point is avoiding the hassle of chilling myself if I can. Any collective wisdom on this?
posted by Bella Donna at 5:07 PM on April 11, 2014

I found an article on party and event planning. The relevant quote "To determine the mix of red and white wine, go with an even split if you are not sure which your guests prefer. You will get five glasses of wine from a 750 mL bottle."

Also useful from the article "count on one drink per guest per hour, and up to two drinks per hour if guests are staying overnight or have prearranged transportation home."

I would say that if you keep the drinks grouped together, they will warm more slowly. You will still need to have a way of keeping stuff cool during the wake. So, you will probably need some ice and a tub. Less so than if nothing was cool beforehand.
posted by annsunny at 5:34 PM on April 11, 2014

Yay for Trader Joe's! Did they give you a guarantee on the bottles? Some places will buy back unopened cases. That way, you can have plenty of white and red without being stuck with too much of anything.

Do have at least one cooler there that can be continuously refilled. It isn't ideal but it is easier than having dozens of coolers. If you were here in La., it would be super easy to find enough coolers because we do drink a lot outside.
posted by myselfasme at 7:38 PM on April 11, 2014

Do not bother with grocery store or restaurant(?) ice. Go directly to the source--the term you are looking for is "wholesale ice" or "ice manufacturer." Most of them will sell to the public. You also may be able to find ice delivery. My local liquor store provides this service, you may be similarly lucky.

I work in restaurants/commercial kitchens. I do not have enough ice to sell you what you need and restaurants don't tend to have ice bags on hand. The fast food restaurants that advertise ice seem to sell 1 or 10 lb bags. The ice wholesalers sell nice big bags.

Good luck!
posted by gembackwards at 7:43 AM on April 12, 2014