A tool commonly used at celebratory events or by those who love to entertain, champagne coolers are containers designed to hold ice cubes and cold water. These ice buckets are primarily used to chill (and keep chilled) bottles of champagne and white wine at the dining table; whether in the home, at a restaurant, or at an event such as a gala or wedding.
Ice Buckets can be made from a range of materials. Most are made from either stainless steel, plastic, glass or copper. Some ice buckets are manufactured with a layer of insulation to prevent heat transfer and thus prolong the chill of the bottles inside.
More decorative ice buckets are not usually insulated, and this holds true for our range of stainless steel ice buckets at Koch & Co. Though not insulated, these steel ice buckets are still very effective, especially if wrapped with a towel. This helps to insulate the bucket, and prevent heat transfer from the ambient temperature of the room to the ice bucket contents.
At Koch & Co, our range of champagne buckets are designed with events in mind. As such, our champagne buckets have a greater emphasis on aesthetic appeal. Made exclusively from stainless steel, our range is elegant, bold, and designed to be noticed by guests.
If you need an elegant ice bucket that rings out with hospitality and class, at Koch & Co, we have a range of black, silver, and gold ice buckets perfect for your next event. Whether you need a gold champagne bucket or a black and gold wine bucket, our collection offers the style and class to enhance your guests’ experience.
When planning an event such as a wedding, attention paid to small details, such as the temperature of drinks, can make a great impact on your guests’ experience. To prevent drinks from warming over the course of the night, a metal ice bucket is a simple and decorative solution. Consider a champagne bucket for each table, so that guests have a chilled glass of bubbly handy when it comes to the portion of the evening where toasts are made.
Cool tips on how to keep drinks cold without a fridge:
Water can be a good medium for the transfer of heat. It can help to have some water in your ice wine bucket for the conduction of heat from the inside of the bottle to the water that surrounds it.
Depending on the ambient conditions (windiness, temperature, and sunshine in particular), ice retains its frozen state for anywhere between 4 and 18 hours. Factors affecting your melt time will include whether your wine cooler bucket is insulated. Wine buckets can feature insulating properties in their design or can be insulated simply with a towel wrapped around the exterior. Other factors affecting melt time include the size of the ice cubes (larger cubes will take longer to melt, but crushed ice will accelerate the cooling of the bottle’s contents), and the addition of salt. Adding salt to your ice bucket lowers the freezing point of the water within. This in turn, creates better conditions for the ice to melt, and releases very cold water into the bucket. Water will completely cover the surface area of the bottle and thus, chill its contents quicker. If your drinks are already chilled when putting them into your bucket, perhaps opt to skip the salt.
Cool tip: To help slow heat transfer from ambient temperature into the contents of your ice bucket, first line your bucket with aluminium foil, with the reflective side facing inward. This helps to keep the contents of the bucket at a more consistent temperature.
An uninsulated champagne cooler bucket is more likely to collect condensation, a.k.a. ‘sweat’ on the outside surface. This is because the surface of stainless steel ice buckets becomes cooler than the ambient temperature of the space they’re in. This means that when water vapour in the air comes into contact with the bucket surface, its molecules slow down and come closer together. When that happens, the gaseous water vapour turns back into liquid water droplets. To prevent water from dripping down your bucket and onto your table or floor, wrap your bucket with a dry and clean towel. This helps to prevent the surface of your bucket from being exposed to ambient air. This in turn also aids in protecting your bucket from absorbing the heat in the air, thereby delaying the heat transfer and the melting of your ice.
Some types of wine are best served chilled, and they can be chilled or kept chilled by means of a champagne chiller. Insulated chillers and metal wine buckets are great for keeping not only champagne, but also white wine, rosé wine, and sparkling wine chilled. Serving these drinks at a cooler temperature (somewhere between 6 and 12 degrees Celsius) positively affects their delicate aromas, crisp flavours, and acidity.
The time it takes to chill ambient temperature wine in a wedding ice bucket depends on the ambient temperature, and what you’re immersing the wine in. Fill a wine bucket ⅔ of the way with ice cubes, ideally crushed ice cubes, to help accelerate the cooling process. Top up with water. The addition of a handful of rock or kosher salt helps to lower the water’s freezing point and melt the ice. This releases the cold from the ice, to chill your wine more quickly. Submerging the bottle/s to the top in this mix will cool your beverage in approximately 15 minutes.
Cool tip: To protect the label of your bottle, wrap the bottle in plastic cling film.
Official French Champagne guidelines state that champagne will chill in an ice bucket in half an hour. If using a mix of ice, salt, and a little water in your champagne ice bucket, a standard bottle of champagne will take about 15 mins, and a magnum (twice the size of a regular bottle – ideal for events) will take about 25 mins to chill.