Grown-Up Cherry Cola and Planning a Cocktail Menu

This year, instead of being sad that we can’t be at Mike and Courtney’s for New Year’s, we’re hosting our first New Year’s Eve party.  It will involve a lot of games, a lot of food, and a lot of drinks.

When it comes to the drinks, I want to be sure that we have a wide variety of beverages for our guests to choose from, but I also don’t want to go overboard and be left with a ton of mostly-full bottles at the end of the night.  I think I’ve finally come up with a  list that fits both of those criteria.  To find it, I started with a long list of cocktails we could serve at the party, then sorted them by the type of alcohol they use:

VODKA: Moscow Mules, Vodka Collinses, Black Russians, White Russians
RUM: Dark and Stormies, Peppermint Paddies, Grown-Up Cherry Colas
BRANDY: Brandy Slush, Brandy Alexanders, Peppermint Paddies
AMARETTO: Amaretto Sours, Grown-Up Cherry Colas
BOURBON: Old Fashioneds, Hot Toddies, Spiked Cocoas, Chais and Coffees
CRÈMES: White Russians, Black Russians, Grasshoppers, Spiked Cocoas, Chais and Coffees
WHISKEY: Manhattans, Spiked Coffees
GIN: Negronis, Tom Collinses

The least represented alcohols on the menu, gin and whiskey, got the boot.  This also means I won’t need to buy sweet vermouth, as I only needed it for the Manhattans and the Negronis.   So when we go to the liquor store this week, we’ll just need to get:

Vodka
Rum
Brandy
Bourbon
Kahlua
Irish Cream
Creme de Cacao
Orange Bitters
Angostura Bitters
3-4 bottles of champagne
5-6 bottles of Barolo, Nebbiolo, Barbera or other Italian red wines (to go with the food!)
(We already have plenty of crème de menthe, triple sec and amaretto.)

It looks like a lot, but considering this will be a party of approximately 16 people lasting for 6 hours or more, it is not too bad!