Cool Your Drinks Without a Refrigerator

Look, even if it’s halfway to boiling outside and you’d rather be sitting in a dark cave, you might still want to feel the sun on your skin every now and then. Problem: outside, all your drinks become lukewarm within five minutes. Yuck.

Because nobody feels like drinking lukewarm beer/white wine/cola/water during a picnic, we’ve found the ultimate hacks to keep your drinks cool without a refrigerator. You’re welcome.

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Digging holes

Dark soil, the deeper the better, can function perfectly well as a natural refrigerator. So dig a hole (not too enthusiastically, because it’s hot), put your drinks in it, and above all, don’t forget to dig them up again after at least an hour. This works even better with wet soil. Ta-da, chilled drinks!

Frozen grapes

You won’t hear us say that you should put ice in your wine. Or in your beer. That’s simply not acceptable. To cool your wine in your glass after all, you can add frozen grapes. Works with beer too, of course.

Frozen water balloons

To prevent meltwater, and therefore a small flood, in your cooler bag, we recommend filling water balloons. Huh? Not to throw, but to pack alongside your food and drinks. Always put them on top, because cold air sinks.

Drinks as ice packs

Okay, you do need a refrigerator for this, but only as preparation. Simply freeze half of the drinks you’re taking with you and use the frozen units as ice packs for the rest. By the time the rest is nearly gone, your ice packs may also be ready to thaw. Watch out for the risk of explosions. If you want to freeze drinks, always leave some space in the bottle, because liquid expands when it freezes.

Long, narrow ice cubes

One major annoyance is water or soft-drink bottles with an opening that’s too small for ice cubes. Don’t worry, you can buy a handy long, narrow ice cube tray on Amazon. That way, you can fill your entire bottle with ice cubes. Of course, you can also simply freeze your entire bottle of water beforehand.

Wrap it up

Aluminum foil provides insulation, and so do newspapers. So wrap your drinks well when they come out of the refrigerator and, once outside, put them in the shade to keep the effect going for as long as possible.

Wet sock in the wind

This may sound strange, but it isn’t. It works with a wet cloth too, but in a sock you can easily hang your drink out of the sun, in the wind. The wind keeps the sock cool.