Re-purposed sparkling cider bottles used for chilled water

In addition to serving blackberry lemonade in our new punchbowl at the reception a couple of weeks ago, we also had chilled water available on a few tables in the house. I save glass bottles that I find attractive in shape or color. I had a total of 6 clear glass bottles that I wanted to reuse for chilled water for this event. Some of the bottles had a unique shape or tint to the glass, which I felt made the presentation of the chilled water more interesting.

I have found that the paper labels on the sparkling cider bottles are relatively easy to remove with a bit of soaking in water (compared to something like the labels on peanut butter jars). Once the labels are off, there is the "sell-by" stamp to remove.

This is easily done with a little baking soda on a rag. The stamp literally rubs right off with the baking soda.

half of stamp rubbed off with baking soda

now completely gone

With bottles completely cleaned, the evening before our reception I filled the bottles, recapped, and chilled in the fridge overnight. The next day, I placed filled bottles, along with stacks of cups, in key places where guest might congregate. The bottles served an extra purpose in their lives, and looked attractive in the process.

I had been thinking, this might be a good way to serve homemade lemonade or iced tea at backyard BBQs this summer.