How Much Vodka for a Party?

Vodka Planning Guide

Vodka is the workhorse of any open bar because it disappears into nearly everything. At the standard 1.5-ounce pour, a 750ml bottle makes about 16 to 17 drinks, and a 1.75-liter handle makes roughly 39. Plan on two to three cocktails per guest over a typical event, which means one 750ml bottle covers about six to seven drinkers. Because vodka is the base most guests default to, buy it in the largest format you can and treat it as the bottle you are most likely to run dry first.

The mixers, not the vodka, decide whether the bar feels stocked. For every bottle of vodka, stock tonic, club soda, cranberry juice, and orange juice, and figure on roughly two to three cans or one liter of mixer per bottle of spirit. A simple rule of thumb is one liter of tonic or soda and one quart of juice for each 750ml of vodka. Keep the cranberry and orange juice cold and the tonic fresh, since flat tonic ruins more drinks than cheap vodka ever will.

Quality is the place to save money with vodka specifically. In a vodka soda or a cranberry, almost no one can pick out a top-shelf bottle once it is mixed and over ice, so a clean mid-shelf vodka is the rational buy for volume. Spend the difference on more mixers, more ice, and fresh citrus instead. Have lime and lemon wedges cut and ready before guests arrive, plan about one pound of ice per person for the drinks, and the cheaper vodka will go completely unnoticed.