Gin? Tequila?

Are they selling booze today?
i was wondering myself.

Gin and rum are good standbys.

Gin. And tonic. I like your whisky choices and am sad that my budget won't accommodate Dalwhinnie at the moment. Amaretto (that might just be me). Bailey's for those who like it (not me).

Definitely rum! I like Cruzan (2-year old) for mixing. There are other fabulous sipping rums, too, of course--I can give you all sorts of recommendations there, if you like.

Please do, mrmoonpie, as you can see, I pretty much stick with the whiskeys (and I dislike rum), so I would love to know what rum to have in the cabinet!

If I can come over, I'll bring a bottle of Henricks.

Of course you can, Specklet! The whole point in stocking the cabinet is forcing myself to open the psychic space of my home and let people come in!

I think I may be cocktail challenged. I'm such a lightweight that it only takes 2 for a decent buzz. So if I'm doing the hard stuff, they're usually smaller portions than a beer, I end up ballisticated and spin-inflicted in no time, because I don't like being empty handed. I feel stupid standing there with no beverage, or with a bottle of water. I guess I should learn to water 'em down, huh?

Tequila, to be mixed with tangerine juice. Or orange juice, but tangerine is really, really good. For margaritas, crunchy salt for the rim is nice, and for tangerine margaritas, which I may have mentioned are quite tasty, coarse sugar for the rim is a nice touch.

I'm also a fan of bloody marys, so horseradish is required. You've got manhattans covered.

would also recommend the following: gin, rum, tequila - plus the little niceties for garnish (olives, cherries, rock salt, limes, bla bla bla) - obviously the perishable fruit type stuff would be purchased on Event Day, tho.

as far as mixers, I'm kinda stumped but then I rarely drink liquor and when I do I stick to vodka martinis, a wee nip of single malt scotch (neat, please) or Irish car bombs

(the last is a little quirk of the mister's... we had carbombs a-plenty for his birthday last weekend, oy!)

For mixers, make sure you have some tonic, cranberry, oj , 7up and coke. Buy a six pack or several small bottles instead of a big one. That way you can keep whatever's leftover for the next party.

As requested...

I went to a mindblowingly-awesome rum tasting a few months back, so I have some pretty good recommendations, at several price points.

Any of the Zacapa rums are excellent; the 23-year-old ($40) was appreciably better than the 15-year-old ($30), but the 15 was damned fine. Zaya, too was fantastic ($40). These are all a bit sweet; Vizcaya ($50) was the best dry rum I had. Out of over 30 rums I tasted, these were the clear winners, and they seem to be fairly easy to find. Also good were El Dorado 15 yr and Barbancourt 15 yr, but I haven't seen them anywhere but at the tasting. These are fine sipping rums--no mixers, no ice.

Taking it down a notch, I highly recommend any of the Plantation rums, especially the Barbados variety; these are around $25, but the Plantation Grand Reserve is the best $20 bottle you'll find. You can drink these straight, but a little ice would help.

At the cheap end, again, Cruzan ($12) is great in your daquiris and hurricanes and such; way better than Bacardi, and usually a bit cheaper. For spiced rum, try Foursquare.