Ice is the supply hosts run out of most often, and the cheapest one to overbuy. Too much means a cooler of water at midnight; too little means a mid-party gas station run.
The rule of thumb
Plan on 1 pound of ice per guest for drinks over a three to four hour party. Make it 2 pounds per guest if:
- It's outdoors or warm.
- You're making cocktails. Every shaken drink uses a scoop of ice that goes down the sink.
- The same ice is also chilling bottles.
Twelve guests drinking wine and beer need about 12 pounds. Add a cocktail bar and a tub of bubbly and it's closer to 25. Round up to whole bags, then buy one more.
A tasting alone needs far less, since tasting pours are served neat. How Much to Buy for a Tasting Party covers the rest of that list.
Chill bottles in ice water, not ice
Plain ice chills bottles slowly because the cubes only touch the glass in a few spots. Fill the tub halfway with ice, then add cold water until the bottles are submerged to the neck. Water touches the whole bottle, and sparkling wine gets to serving temperature in about 20 minutes. A handful of salt makes it colder still: salt lowers the water's freezing point, so the slush can drop below 32°F.
Budget this ice separately. A full tub of bottles can eat a whole bag on its own.
Keep drinking ice and chilling ice apart
The bottle tub has had hands, wet labels and bottle bottoms in it. Never scoop drinks from it. Keep drink ice in its own bucket with a scoop, and leave the scoop outside the ice so nobody digs in with a glass. If a glass breaks near the ice, dump the whole bin. A glass chip in ice is nearly invisible.
Shape changes how fast it melts
Big cubes melt slower than small ones because they have less surface area for their size, which is why one large cube suits whisky on the rocks. Crushed ice melts fast and dilutes on purpose, which is what a tiki drink wants (see Every Tiki Drink Is the Same Four Parts). Tray ice that has sat for weeks picks up freezer smells, so use fresh bags for drinks.
Where to keep it
Your freezer is already full of party food. A closed cooler in the shade holds bagged ice for hours, so buy it the afternoon of the party and open the lid as little as possible.
Where it matters most
New Year's Eve is the real test: every bottle needs to be cold at once, right at midnight. For a sparkling tasting before the countdown, our Bubbly 101 kit has the 12-bottle shopping list in three price tiers, a blind Pop-Off game, a mimosa bar setup and 20 sparkling cocktail cards. How to Host a Champagne Tasting Party walks through the night.