Expert: Paul Wagner - 2/18/2008

Question
A group of two dozen seniors at my college are all going down to South Carolina upon graduation to spend a week partying.  To put it bluntly, all 24 are pretty heavy drinkers.  I was put in charge of organizing and I'm looking to procure enough liquor to last the week (beer will be a daily thing to keep it refrigerated).  People's tastes in alcohol run the gamut so I'm not sure what would be good.  I have a budget of about $800.  How much should I concentrate on getting base alcohols (vodka, rum, ect) and how much should I invest in liqueurs?  I thought of telling everyone to bring 2 1L bottles of their own choosing but decided one unilateral purchase would ensure we had good variety and didn't miss anything important.

Any advice (quantity, types, anything) would be really phenomenal.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Chris

Unfortunately, the best people to give this advice are your guests! They know what they want to drink, and how much.  I can't help you answer that question.

Based on the pure logistics of it all, youy have 24 people, and 1/3 of a bottle will get just about anyone beyond the legal limit.  That means 8 bottles a night for a week, or a total 56 bottles of liquor.  That's a lot.  By the time you add two bottles of mixers for every bottle of liquor (the usual ratio) you will have over 150 bottles...that' s more than 12 cases.  And that doesn't include the liqueurs etc. that you need for some cocktails.  I would wait until I arrived at the destination and buy most of it there.  The average price per bottle at that point is something under $10, which means you are going to be buying a lot of really cheap stuff--not my idea of fun.   

But you might approach it another way.  Here are a couple of suggestions on how to plan for this party:

1.  Buy a smaller selection of each of the products, and make the first night a kind of tasting party, where your guests can taste all the different options, and then put in their order for the rest of the week.  That way you can try and make them all happy. And you won't invest in something that nobody likes.

2.  Suggest that each night have a different theme--Rum for tropical drinks one night, vodka for cocktails, even a wine tasting one night.  That way you could offer a range of different experiences, and make the evenings a bit more than just a drink until we drop party.

Hope that helps...I don't envy your job!

Paul Wagner

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