Hosting a Holiday Cocktail Party for 12 to 20

Anchor Hocking has made glass in Ohio since 1905, and the Heritage Hill jar is a heavy, plain, wide-mouthed piece with a glass lid and a spigot near the bottom. Two gallons is 256 ounces, enough for about fifty 4 ounce drinks before ice. The glass is thick and weighted enough to stay put when someone opens the tap with one hand.

The wide mouth matters. It takes a large block of ice, which melts far slower than cubes and dilutes the batch less, and it lets a host top up the drink or add citrus wheels without a funnel. Clear glass shows off whatever is inside, which does most of the decorating.

It is the right vessel for a spritz, a punch-style drink or a batched long drink topped up with soda in the glass. Skip it for stirred, spirit-forward drinks like a Manhattan, which are better poured from a pitcher kept in the refrigerator.

The catch. The glass lid does not seal, and the jar is heavy to lift once full; fill it where it will stand.

Every household ice bucket is too small for a party. A tabletop bucket holds three or four pounds; a party of twenty goes through far more than that between the drinks, the dispenser and the bottles of wine and sparkling water that need to stay cold. The tub solves it by holding a whole bag at once.

Viski's tub is stainless steel with a hammered finish and two side handles, and it holds 5.35 gallons. That is room for a scoop's worth of cocktail ice at one end and a row of bottles buried in ice and water at the other. The hammered surface looks deliberate on a sideboard, which a cooler never does.

It is single-walled, so it sweats. Set it on a tray or a folded towel, not straight on wood, and keep a second bag in the freezer for the refill.

The catch. Single-wall steel, so condensation runs down the outside; it needs a tray underneath.

A cocktail napkin is handed out with the drink, wrapped around the glass, and then used for a canapé. Paper ones turn to pulp against a cold glass in ten minutes. Linen ones absorb the condensation and still look like napkins at the end of the night.

Solino Home's are 100 percent European flax linen, 6 inches square, with a classic hemstitch border, and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified. They are machine washable and need only a light iron, or none, since a little rumple is normal for linen.

For a party of twenty, buy two or three sets; guests set one down and take another. White is the practical choice, because it can be bleached.

The catch. Linen wrinkles, and red wine or cranberry on white linen needs attention the same night.

At a standing party, food goes round rather than sitting on a table, and the platter to carry it is long and narrow. Twelve inches by six holds a single or double row of bites that a guest can reach without leaning over the whole dish, and it fits in one hand between people.

Emile Henry has made ceramics in Burgundy since 1850, and its Madeleine pieces are made in France. The maker rates them as dishwasher safe, resistant to thermal shock, and covered by a 10 year warranty against manufacturing defects. That thermal rating means warm bites can go from a low oven onto the platter.

Buy two, so one can be refilled in the kitchen while the other is out. Skip it if your food is set out as a buffet; a large round platter suits that better.

The catch. Narrow by design, so it will not hold a cheese course or anything that needs a knife.

Schott Zwiesel's Basic Bar line was designed with the Munich bartender Charles Schumann, and the whiskey glass is the everyday tumbler of the set: straight sides, an extra thick base, about 12 ounces, 3.6 inches tall. It is made in Germany from Tritan crystal, which the maker describes as strong enough for heavy use and the dishwasher.

The difference from the Libbey glasses is in the hand. Crystal is clearer and rings when touched, and a thin rim makes a drink taste better, even if nobody at the party could say why.

Twenty guests means four sets, which is over $300 of glasses. Buy these for a party of twelve, or buy one set for the host's own bar and the Libbeys for the crowd.

The catch. At about $13.50 a glass, a party breakage rate hurts more than it does with restaurant glass.