There are good drinks and bad drinks-sometimes made from the very same ingredients, just like there are good and bad bars that serve the same drinks. So it is the host's duty to create this difference for his clients, since we are presuming that his entertaining is of his own picking, instead of the drinks wrenched from him by self-invited guests who have misidentified his home for the country club.
For the spongers, grant them the worst you have, short of poisoning them. If they love your stuff too much, they may return too often. Never mind your reputation as a bartender: it could suffer, but so would your bank account if these characters fancy you for a good thing. And utilize your smallest glasses; these louts are constantly fast talkers and fast drinkers, and the more ice water you give them, the better.
But now let us speak more curtly, in the issue of your own good friends. Nothing would be too good for them. Don't buy cheap stuff and place it in expensive bottles, or in glass decanters, regardless how beautiful, for your crime will be figured out and your shame far graver than if you had the force of character-backed by the squeals from your budget—to bring before them modestly priced stuff.
But do extend the good stuff, even if you should entertain less often. Display your bottles with pride and with nary a clinker amongst them. There is no more elusive or solid way of telling your friends how highly you esteem them. If it is to be an all-night brawl for a mob, go ahead—give them anything and everything. But we're thinking most of an agreeable get together in your house, not a witches' dance on Bald Mountain.
Some hosts just tell the boys to dip in and fix their own. This isn't too bad for a summer evening when practically everybody is getting a long tall one and one guy just hasn't got the vitality to go sailing out and around each time the bottom of a dry glass heaves up in view.
It is recommended that you mind your business as the host. Keep them engaged and have them filled and keep them happy as a host. Being drunk in your own party is not a good way to earn you the title of a good host. Your turn to enjoy yourself would come: it's best to enjoy the art of being the best darn bartender in the county.
For the spongers, grant them the worst you have, short of poisoning them. If they love your stuff too much, they may return too often. Never mind your reputation as a bartender: it could suffer, but so would your bank account if these characters fancy you for a good thing. And utilize your smallest glasses; these louts are constantly fast talkers and fast drinkers, and the more ice water you give them, the better.
But now let us speak more curtly, in the issue of your own good friends. Nothing would be too good for them. Don't buy cheap stuff and place it in expensive bottles, or in glass decanters, regardless how beautiful, for your crime will be figured out and your shame far graver than if you had the force of character-backed by the squeals from your budget—to bring before them modestly priced stuff.
But do extend the good stuff, even if you should entertain less often. Display your bottles with pride and with nary a clinker amongst them. There is no more elusive or solid way of telling your friends how highly you esteem them. If it is to be an all-night brawl for a mob, go ahead—give them anything and everything. But we're thinking most of an agreeable get together in your house, not a witches' dance on Bald Mountain.
Some hosts just tell the boys to dip in and fix their own. This isn't too bad for a summer evening when practically everybody is getting a long tall one and one guy just hasn't got the vitality to go sailing out and around each time the bottom of a dry glass heaves up in view.
It is recommended that you mind your business as the host. Keep them engaged and have them filled and keep them happy as a host. Being drunk in your own party is not a good way to earn you the title of a good host. Your turn to enjoy yourself would come: it's best to enjoy the art of being the best darn bartender in the county.