How to Cool Drinks at a Picnic

There is nothing like a cool drink on a hot summer day. When having a picnic you want to have plenty of cool drinks on hand and not run out. Here are several ways to cool drinks quickly if you run out of cold ones.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Place the drinks in the bottom of a cooler. Put a layer of ice on top of them. Add cold water to the cooler until all of the drinks are covered. Put some more ice in. Sprinkle salt on the top layer of ice to cool the drinks quickly. Wipe the salt off the can or bottle before drinking.

2. Plunge sealed drinks into a bucket of cold water. If your picnic is at the beach, the lake or ocean water might be cold enough.

3. Run the can or bottle under cold running water for a few minutes to make the contents cool enough to drink.

4. Tear long thin strips of newspaper or paper towels. Wet the paper in cold water. Wrap the strips of paper around the cans or bottles to cool them quickly.

5. Open the can or bottle while it is warm, and pour the drink into glasses. Put a few ice cubes in each glass to cool the beverage before drinking. The ice absorbs the heat from the beverage, cooling the drink and melting the ice.

Tips & Warnings

• Be careful if using strips of newspaper to cool your drinks. When the newspaper gets wet, the ink on the paper runs and comes off. If it gets on your clothing it leaves black marks. Wipe the cans or bottles off before drinking from them.