Estimates of Wine, Beer, and Liquor For Your Next Event
It's a good idea to plan ahead for food and drink if you're throwing any kind of party. Perhaps your bar is well-stocked, with plenty of beer, wine, and liquor, so that you may not have much to worry about. Otherwise, it doesn't hurt to be precise about what you'll need to keep guests happy and hydrated.
Start with some basic questions about your party. How many people are you expecting (of course)? Will there be any children? How long is the party? What kind of party are you having: dinner party, hors d'oeuvres, cocktail party, barbecue, etc? Do you have a bartender or anyone else dedicated to serving the drinks?
These are the basics, now to dig into some details that will help you plan your pre-party cocktail shopping list and prep. What kind of guests are you having and what is their taste in alcohol? Should you break out (or buy) the particularly nice wine, or just make sure there's a good variety of beer available all night. Maybe there needs to be interesting prepared cocktails - maybe simple, maybe fancier - or a bar setup for guests to mix their own drinks.
If you are going with cocktails and don't want guests to try to mix their own drinks, you'll want to stick with something simple and repeatable so that you or another host can keep mixing your signature cocktail throughout the night.
What is the age range of your guests? Will they be bringing kids? If so, remember to have juice, soft drinks, water, etc (not a bad idea regardless of guest age). The younger the crowd, the more likely you'll want to have beer lying around. The older the crowd, the more likely you'll want to have a variety of red and white wines.
Make sure to leave some of especially your wine and liquor in reserve, rather than opening up everything right away. There are lots of ancillary things you'll want to be stocked up on, like ice. Plan to have about a pound of ice per guest. If the weather is particularly hot, plan on a little more than that.
Naturally you'll want to make sure you also have plenty of glasses, as well as mixers and lemon and limes. Aim for about three glasses per guest just to be safe.
As for the amount of wine, beer, or liquor, you're looking at about two servings of whatever in the first hour. After that, one serving of whatever for each additional hour. If you have a fairly typical two-hour-long party, you are looking at three beverages per guest total.
That's total, so do a little prediction about what proportions you'll need of wine versus be. If you have a party that will last about two hours and think the wine, beer, and mixed drinks will be equally popular, among the guests, then you will want to have enough wine for each guest to have one glass, enough beer for each guest to have one beer, and enough liquor (and mixers) for each guest to have one cocktail over the course of the event. You get the idea.
Here are a few rules of thumb. You can expect to need about one bottle of wine for every two guests for a two-hour event. Roughly speaking, you'll need twice as much red wine as white wine, unless you know something specific about your guests' preferences.
For beer, expect to need about two bottles of beer per person in the first hour of the party, then a bottle of beer for each additional hour.
For liquor, a 750 ml bottle gives you about 15 drinks. Here too you're thinking about three servings per guest per two hour party.
A bottle of champagne gives you six servings (flutes) of champagne. If you are having an event where this is just for a toast, you may only need one per guest. If you are planning on guests having champagne throughout the night, plan on about three flutes per guest.
As far as water, make sure you have about a liter of water for every four guests if it's a cocktail party.
Again, if you know your guests are going to have a mix of wine, beer, and liquor, you can adjust these amounts down. Hopefully this helps you plan the haul of beer, wine, and spirits and makes your next party a little more manageable.
Start with some basic questions about your party. How many people are you expecting (of course)? Will there be any children? How long is the party? What kind of party are you having: dinner party, hors d'oeuvres, cocktail party, barbecue, etc? Do you have a bartender or anyone else dedicated to serving the drinks?
These are the basics, now to dig into some details that will help you plan your pre-party cocktail shopping list and prep. What kind of guests are you having and what is their taste in alcohol? Should you break out (or buy) the particularly nice wine, or just make sure there's a good variety of beer available all night. Maybe there needs to be interesting prepared cocktails - maybe simple, maybe fancier - or a bar setup for guests to mix their own drinks.
If you are going with cocktails and don't want guests to try to mix their own drinks, you'll want to stick with something simple and repeatable so that you or another host can keep mixing your signature cocktail throughout the night.
What is the age range of your guests? Will they be bringing kids? If so, remember to have juice, soft drinks, water, etc (not a bad idea regardless of guest age). The younger the crowd, the more likely you'll want to have beer lying around. The older the crowd, the more likely you'll want to have a variety of red and white wines.
Make sure to leave some of especially your wine and liquor in reserve, rather than opening up everything right away. There are lots of ancillary things you'll want to be stocked up on, like ice. Plan to have about a pound of ice per guest. If the weather is particularly hot, plan on a little more than that.
Naturally you'll want to make sure you also have plenty of glasses, as well as mixers and lemon and limes. Aim for about three glasses per guest just to be safe.
As for the amount of wine, beer, or liquor, you're looking at about two servings of whatever in the first hour. After that, one serving of whatever for each additional hour. If you have a fairly typical two-hour-long party, you are looking at three beverages per guest total.
That's total, so do a little prediction about what proportions you'll need of wine versus be. If you have a party that will last about two hours and think the wine, beer, and mixed drinks will be equally popular, among the guests, then you will want to have enough wine for each guest to have one glass, enough beer for each guest to have one beer, and enough liquor (and mixers) for each guest to have one cocktail over the course of the event. You get the idea.
Here are a few rules of thumb. You can expect to need about one bottle of wine for every two guests for a two-hour event. Roughly speaking, you'll need twice as much red wine as white wine, unless you know something specific about your guests' preferences.
For beer, expect to need about two bottles of beer per person in the first hour of the party, then a bottle of beer for each additional hour.
For liquor, a 750 ml bottle gives you about 15 drinks. Here too you're thinking about three servings per guest per two hour party.
A bottle of champagne gives you six servings (flutes) of champagne. If you are having an event where this is just for a toast, you may only need one per guest. If you are planning on guests having champagne throughout the night, plan on about three flutes per guest.
As far as water, make sure you have about a liter of water for every four guests if it's a cocktail party.
Again, if you know your guests are going to have a mix of wine, beer, and liquor, you can adjust these amounts down. Hopefully this helps you plan the haul of beer, wine, and spirits and makes your next party a little more manageable.