How To Calculate The Amount Of Alcohol You'll Need For A Party

Planning parties can be stressful. Between getting the menu just right (while navigating everyone's dietary restrictions), choosing which plates to use, and, if it's a dinner party, making the right guest list. Then there are the beverages, which is a whole other consideration. You'll want to make sure you have enough to last for the entire soiree, but you don't want to end up with 20 cases of beer or wine leftover. 

How do you factor how much alcohol you'll need? To find out, we talked to Chris Finnegan, director at Cocktail Crates. "I would expect each person to have one drink per hour during the party," Finnegan told Food Republic. "So think about how long you expect the party to last and how many people are on the guest list and go from there."

"I follow this rule as not everybody will be drinking all-night, some guests will likely be driving, and some will likely bring their own booze for the night," he continued. "So this is a good rule of thumb to go by and prevent you from going overboard." A typical calculation might go like this: If you're inviting 12 people and the party will last four hours, you'll need the equivalent of 48 drinks (you can always just round up).

Of course, it's easier to decide what types of drinks to serve when it's a smaller party consisting of (mostly) friends. "It's always nice to have variety," Finnegan advised. "One of the best ways to estimate is to know your audience and what they like to drink. Don't be afraid to just ask what people like to drink when inviting them." For example, if you know the majority of your guests are beer snobs, then get mostly craft beer. If the gals prefer wine, see if there's a particular bottle they prefer. "The ratio of types of alcohol can vary depending on your audience and the preferences of your group."

If you're hosting a larger party where you don't know all the guests that well, Finnegan had guidance for that, too. "Whenever I have hosted a party with a mixed audience, I typically go by around 40% beers and cider, then 30% spirits, and 30% wines." But he also reminded us of something important: "Don't forget some soft drink options, like Pepsi or lemonade" for those who don't drink at all, but still like to socialize. Or consider picking up a few of Alton Brown's favorite non-alcoholic spirits.