Salt and water beat plain ice every time.

The fastest way to chill drinks for a party is a cooler full of ice, some cold water, and a solid handful of salt.

Plain ice in a cooler is mostly air-cooling, which is slow. Add water and you’re using direct contact, which transfers cold way faster. Add salt and you drop the freezing point, forcing the ice to melt more aggressively and pull heat out of your cans. That’s the whole trick.

Go heavy on the ice, pour in water until it almost covers the cans, then toss in a generous cup or two of salt — rock salt works, table salt works too. Give it a stir, rotate the cans every few minutes, and you’ll have cold drinks in about 10 to 15 minutes instead of 45. Aluminum cans chill