Ice & garnish calculator

How much ice do you need for a party?

Ice is the thing parties run out of first, and it's the cheapest thing to over-buy. The usual planning range is 1 to 2 lb per guest: about 1 lb for a cool indoor party, 1.5 lb for a typical party, and 2 lb when it's hot, outdoors or by a pool. That's for a party of up to about 4 hours. A longer one scales up, so a 6-hour party needs one and a half times as much.

Chilling cans and bottles is extra. A cooler or tub of drinks needs its own ice, roughly 20 lb for a standard 48-quart cooler, on top of the ice that goes into glasses. A wet ice bath (ice plus water) chills cans much faster than ice alone.

Worked example

40 guests, a typical 4-hour party: 40 × 1.5 lb = 60 lb, six 10 lb bags. Add two tubs of beer and that's another 40 lb, so 10 bags.

Ice rules from behind the bar

• Keep glass ice and chilling ice separate. Ice that has held cans and bottles doesn't go in drinks.
• Buy the ice last, or have it delivered. Store spare bags in a cooler in the shade, not on the floor.
• Use a scoop, never a glass. A chipped glass in the ice bin means emptying the whole bin.
• Punch bowls get one big block or ring, frozen the day before, so the punch doesn't water down.

Garnish math

• A lime cuts into 8 wedges. A lemon gives about 6 good wheels. An orange gives about 6 wide peels.
• For juice, plan on about 1 oz per lime and 1.5 oz per lemon.
• Cut citrus the day of and keep it covered with a damp paper towel in the fridge until guests arrive.
• A bunch of rosemary or mint gives about 10 good sprigs once you pick out the tired ones.