How Many Drinks to Plan
Whether you’re hosting an intimate dinner party or throwing a bash for a crowd, the buying guide charts in this section can make it easy for you to determine how much liquor and wine you’ll need. A rule of thumb is one drink per hour per person, with a little extra added as insurance. Remember, liquor has a long shelf life, even opened, so it is better to buy more and store leftovers than to run out. With wine, open the bottles as needed, as unopened bottles can also be stored for another use, but opened bottles must be consumed in the next few days after the party. Always encourage the practice of designated driving at your festivities.
| For Four People | For Eight People | For Twelve People | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | 4 cocktails/wine before lunch | 8 cocktails/wine before lunch | 12 cocktails/wine before lunch |
| 4 glasses of wine with lunch | 8 glasses of wine with lunch | 12 glasses of wine with lunch | |
| 4 liqueurs after lunch (optional) | 8 liqueurs after lunch (optional) | 8 liqueurs after lunch (optional) | |
| Cocktails | 6 cocktails/wine per hour | 12 cocktails/wine per hour | 18 cocktails/wine per hour |
| Dinner | 6 cocktails/wine before dinner | 12 cocktails/wine before dinner | 18 cocktails/wine before dinner |
| 8 glasses of wine with dinner | 16 glasses of wine with dinner | 24 glasses of wine with dinner | |
| 4 cocktails/liqueurs after dessert | 8 cocktails/liqueurs after dessert | 12 cocktails/liqueurs after dessert | |
| Evening | 6 cocktails/wine per hour | 12 cocktails/wine per hour | 18 cocktails/wine per hour |
How Many Bottles of Wine for Dinner
Table Wines, Champagnes, Sparkling Wines average 2 servings, 5 ounces each, per person
| People | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 750ml | 2 | 2+ | 3+ | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 1.5 liter | 1 | 1+ | 2 | 2 | 2+ | 4 |
Generally, bottle quantities recommended provide some small overages of wine from 10- ounces-per-guest formula; “+” indicates somewhat less than the formula and you may desire to have an additional bottle on hand.
How Many Drinks Per Bottle
Cocktails, Mixed Drinks 1.5-ounce liquor servings
| Bottles | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 750ml | 16 | 33 | 67 | 101 | 135 | 169 | 203 |
| Liter | 22 | 45 | 90 | 135 | 180 | 225 | 270 |
| 1.5 liter | 39 | 78 | 157 | 236 | 315 | 394 | 473 |
Table Wines, Champagnes, Sparkling Wines 5-ounce wine servings
| Bottles | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 750ml | 5 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 |
| Liter | 6 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 54 | 67 | 81 |
| 1.5 liter | 10 | 20 | 40 | 60 | 81 | 101 | 121 |
| 3 liter | 20 | 40 | 80 | 121 | 161 | 202 | 242 |
| 4 liter | 27 | 54 | 108 | 162 | 216 | 270 | 324 |