Catering Conundrum. How Much to Buy and Serve.

Dec. 23, 2014 — You’re hosting a party and suddenly you have to figure out how much booze to buy. You want your guests to have enough but you don’t want them getting blitzed. Here are a few quick tips.

A 750 ml bottle of wine or any other beverage equals a tad more than 25 ounces. If you are serving Champagne or sparkling wine for example, you should get five pours from a bottle. Most Champagne flutes hold about six ounces but leave an inch or more at the top for the mousse. Count on serving a glass and a half per person as an aperitif. If it is a cocktail party, or you are serving it throughout the meal, cater three glasses per person. We always start with bubbly because it is festive, puts everybody in a good mood and it’s simple.

We recently saw a recommendation from Martha Stewart quoted by another writer to cater one bottle of wine per two people per hour. This was published in 2009 and is still on her web site. That works out to be a bottle per person over two hours, which is way too much. We would cut that in half and it is still quite a lot – 12 ounces. So we recommend one bottle of wine per two people over two hours.

If it’s an open house, count on two drinks per person in the first hour and one drink per hour after that. That goes for beer, wine and spirits.

Make sure you have plenty of appetizers available to avoid drinking on an empty stomach. If you have to get dinner on the table, stay sober yourself! Wait until you have had some food and are a bit more relaxed before you start to drink.

When pouring wine, never fill the glass to the top. Leave room to swirl the wine a bit and let the oxygen bring out the flavor of the wine.

Usually it is recommended to have more whites than reds, but that depends on your guests. If they are wine devotees, they’ll probably go for reds.

Don’t open all your wines at the beginning of the party otherwise you might be left with open full bottles or lots of half drunk bottles.

Your fridge is probably full but find room for a couple of choices of soda for anyone who doesn’t drink or is the designated driver. Sparkling water served on the rocks, with a few drops of Angostura bitters and a slice of lemon or lime looks festive.

Speaking of full fridges, don’t forget the ice, especially if you are making mixed drinks. You’ll probably need about a pound of ice per person.

Making mixed drinks is quite an undertaking so check out suggestions from mixologist Rob Newhouse about preparing cocktails ahead of time. Our interview is here.
Finally, after dinner drinks or liqueurs are a rich finale to a great meal. If you are going all out, offer a couple of selections such as Grand Marnier and a coffee or chocolate flavored liqueur. You should get at least 15 pours per bottle.

Be sure to offer water throughout the evening and as it draws to a close, offer coffee. If you are concerned about a friend driving, offer to call a cab or offer a sofa.

Happy and Safe Holidays!