Bosch’s new fridge is good for 100 Aperol spritz, but what’s that in margs?

During Bosch’s IFA press conference, the manufacturer introduced its new French Door fridge-freezer combo with an interesting unit of measurement. 100 Aperol spritz. The measurement in question relates to how much ice the integrated ice and water dispenser can make per day. Now, we’re pretty used to the USA using any measurement other than metric, but to see this from a European brand strays far from what I'd call German efficiency. But it begs the question, how many other drinks is this new fridge/freezer good for? Let's do some conversions.

According to Bosch, 100 Aperol spritzes requires 5kg of ice which implies that each spritz needs just 50g. An Aperol spritz has a relatively low ice-intensity since it only needs to be chilled in the serving glass, as opposed to say a martini which needs about three quarters of a cocktail shaker. Shakers come in a bunch of different sizes, but if you just want one big enough to make a single martini, you’ll need a 360ml version which brings that down to 270ml to fill. Hard ice weighs about 0.919  gram per cubic centimeter so a standard ice cube (2.5cm x 2.5cm which is 1-inch x 1-inch in freedom units) is about 30ml. Bosch claims that its 5kg can make 400 cubes, bringing that weight down to 12.5g or about 13.5ml. Meaning that in order to fill 270ml in the shaker you’ll need 20 ice cubes or 250g of ice. That makes the new Bosch French Door good for 20 martinis, or the equivelant of five Aperols.

Moving on to margaritas - an even more ice intense drink. Not only does a marg need ice in the shaker, but it also needs a good amount within the glass. While some places will use specialty margarita glasses, you’ll more commonly see a marg served in a lowball glass typically used for cocktails like an Old Fashioned. Usually these are 10.25 ounces, or 303ml, and are filled very much to the brim with ice. 303ml is equal to just over 22 ice cubes, or 280 additional grams of ice. Add in the 250g of shaker ice, and we’re looking at 530g of ice per marg, or 9.4 margaritas per Bosch French Door.

Now all of these numbers are of course based on Bosch’s assertion that an Aperol spritz only needs 50g of ice. After running the numbers I am confident in calling that claim dubious at the very least. This implies that a spritz only needs four Bosch ice cubes or two standard cubes - surely that is light on the ice. Still I understand why you’d land on the Aperol spritz as a unit of measurement. 9.4 margaritas just doesn’t have the same ring to it.