Christmas party drinks on a budget in Australia

Drinks can be the biggest surprise in a Christmas entertaining budget

Food shopping for Christmas is easy to plan — most households have a reasonable idea of what they will cook. The drinks spend is harder to control. A gathering of ten or fifteen people across a hot Christmas afternoon can get through more than expected, and the per-bottle cost of alcohol adds up quickly.

Planning the drinks side of Christmas before December arrives gives you time to buy on promotion and avoid the premium pricing that comes in the final week before Christmas.

Working out how much to buy

A rough guide for a four-hour Christmas lunch or gathering:

• Beer: 2 to 3 drinks per person per hour is a common average. For a relaxed afternoon, assume 6 to 8 beers per adult who drinks beer.
• Wine: One bottle of wine serves approximately five standard glasses. Assume one to two glasses per person as an opening figure and adjust based on your crowd.
• Soft drinks and water: Always buy more than you think you need. Heat increases consumption significantly. A hot Christmas Day will see sparkling water and soft drinks go faster than any wine.

These are rough guides — the composition of your gathering, the heat on the day and how long the event runs all change the numbers considerably.

Alcohol buying strategies

Buy on promotion in November. Wine, beer and spirits rotate on promotion at major liquor chains and supermarket-attached bottle shops through November. The same cases are often 10 to 20 per cent more expensive in the fortnight before Christmas when demand rises. Buying now and storing is a consistent saving on a category with stable shelf life.

Consider casks and larger formats. For casual gatherings, 2-litre wine casks or 3-litre bag-in-box formats are significantly cheaper per standard drink than bottle equivalents. Not every gathering suits this, but for relaxed backyard gatherings they are practical.

BYO contribution. For larger or more relaxed Christmas gatherings, asking guests to bring drinks — either a bottle to share or their own drinks — is widely accepted in Australia and takes significant cost and logistical pressure off the host.

Non-alcoholic drinks

Non-alcoholic entertaining options have improved significantly and are now a meaningful part of Christmas drinks spread. Options worth considering:

• Sparkling water. Buy home-brand or on-sale sparkling water by the case rather than individual bottles. It is significantly cheaper per litre in bulk.
• Cordials. A good-quality cordial mixed with sparkling water is cheaper per serve than any bottled drink.
• Sparkling grape juice. A widely available, well-received non-alcoholic alternative to sparkling wine.
• Homemade punch or sangria. A large batch made from affordable wine, fruit juice and sliced seasonal fruit serves a crowd cheaply and looks generous on a table.

Ice

Ice is easy to underestimate. For outdoor summer entertaining, buy substantially more than you think you need. A 5 kg bag from a supermarket or service station is the standard purchase — for a large gathering in the heat, two to three bags is not unusual.

Alternatively, start filling plastic bags or containers with ice from your freezer several days ahead, which is effectively free.

Comparing drinks prices

Packaged drinks — soft drinks, sparkling water, mixers — vary in price between Woolworths and Coles. Run a search on TrolleyChecker on your planned purchases before the shop to check which chain has the better price this week.