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Neal Kessler's avatar

I have lots of thoughts on this but I’ll keep it simple.

Yes - don’t be stingy with the liquor. I have two yearly parties that I attend (and one that I have hosted) where the liquor is on full display and open to everyone to make their own drinks. The host is there to offer suggestions or make something a friend might like but otherwise everything flows freely. These are the best parties to attend. I do freely admit to making the “good stuff” hard to find and insiders will know to inquire.

Yes to quantity over quality. When mixing daily Manhattans, Negronis and the like I always go with the cheaper liquor. I would go absolutely broke using good bourbon, rye, or gin in my everyday cocktails.

Wine selection - complicated! While I agree with the large quantities of inexpensive stuff generally (we call it serving “family wine”) there are two times that call for the better bottles. 1. When having a group of people who enjoy wine for an evening. The many small food courses are paired with wines and conversation always ends up about trips to Alsace or Portugal or some such place or bottles of wine that were “so great”. I would never just plop any old bottle down in this circumstances. They don’t need to be expensive but thought needs to go into what’s served. The second time I always choose the better wine is for a gift. It’s always nice to get something you wouldn’t necessarily buy for yourself.

Good stuff. Thanks for provoking thought!

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