In honor of leap year last weekend, my husband and I threw a Leap Year/Stock the Bar Party. A “Stock the Bar” party is a fun way to not only stock your own home bar, but also a fun way to potentially try some new and hopefully exciting new alcohols. Every guest is supposed to bring a bottle of alcohol that begins with the first letter of either their first or last name (or in one of my friend’s cases, their middle name because of the lack of readily available alcohols that begin with their initials from their first or last name). So for example, my name is Rachel, so I might show up with a bottle of rum or RumChata, or a bottle of something whose brand starts with R like Rebel Yell or Rothman & Winter. It’s interesting to see if people challenge themselves beyond the obvious things or if they stick with things they feel are tried and true go to bottles that aren’t going to disappoint.
We attempted to up the creative ante by offering a door-prize for the most unique and/or most liked bottle. Most unique would go to a bottle that no one in the room was familiar with, and most liked would be judged by how quickly it was consumed at the party (so if it was the first bottle to go…there you have it).
We ended up with an interesting selection of things ranging from liqueurs to whiskys to wines. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the variety and the unexpected choices that people came up with. I was also kind of surprised that we ended up with 4 bottles of wine, since several of my friends have said that they are too “intimidated” to try to buy me wine as they are novices or no nothing at all about wine and know that I am a professional wine-enthusiast. One of the wines was a Spumante (sparkling wine) that I had not heard of, two were brands that I am familiar with but don’t really drink, and the last was a Malbec that I have been curious about but have not bothered to try. One of our friends went above and beyond and brought a bottle of scotch for her first name and a bottle of red wine for her last name, thus covering both mine and my husband’s palates!
We provided the food and items for mixers, and of course the party wouldn’t have been complete without a boozy cake, an Almond Amaretto Delight cake – which was gone well before the party was over, and I didn’t even get any! Along with the cake, a few bottles of varying types were gone by the end of the night and now I’m working my way thru the wines.
Aside from eating and drinking the night away, we also played games for hours and really had a blast together taking advantage of that “extra 24 hours” that only happens every four years. What a great way to spend a night with friends!
Next time you want to have a drinks party try a Stock the Bar party! Not only is it fun, but you also spread the cost of the expensive aspects of the party! 😉
You can find an A to Z guide to liqueur brands as well as a plethora of info on other adult beverages at sites like: The Whisky Exchange or even check out Wikipedia’s Guide to Alcoholic Drinks .
Cheers!
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