At the risk of sounding overly traditional, you need beer.

 And food, of course, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

 You probably have a list. But why not mix it up a little? Make one of your new year’s resolutions be to try something new every day (in this case, beer). If you generally drink American premium beers, try a microbrew. Try a wheat beer, or an ale (if you usually drink lighter lager style beers, you probably don’t want to jump right in to an oatmeal stout, by the way. Take your time exploring this new territory.).

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 Of course, as a rule, when we say “Champagne,” we really mean “sparkling wine.” After all, just because it sparkles, doesn’t necessarily make it Champagne. Strictly speaking, Champagne comes only from the Champagne region of

Want to go all out, without going all out? Or without resorting to just raiding the grocery store deli and freezer cases (not that that’s a bad idea, mind you)? There’s just one important thing to remember when figuring the food list for your NYE party: if you aren’t catering, turning it over to your household staff, or bringing in a gourmet chef, it’s going to be up to you and anyone you can get to help. That means simple goes a long way. NYE isn’t a food holiday, not in the way that many other holidays are, so while you want to make sure your guests are well-fed (especially if you’re serving alcohol), it’s probably not worth spending your day (and likely part of your evening) in the kitchen. A little creativity can turn the simplest of foods into gourmet tastes, or you can even skip that and go really simple.

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 Once you know that, you have one basic decision to make: do I give them what they like, or do I up the ante by moving up a shelf? In other words, if Dad drinks Jack Daniel’s, do I give him a bottle (or gift set) of Jack, or do I give him a bottle of Single Barrel? If Mom prefers Absolut, do I give her that, or do I go with Pravda?

Keep in mind that often spirits drinkers don’t mind moving up in a category, but they may have specific tastes that make an upward move challenging. If your best friend is a Dewar’s drinker, buying a $50 single malt isn’t necessarily a good idea—either buy the Dewar’s, or a great bottle of another blended whisky, because your friend may prefer the blended whisky style ov ...

Looking for a last-minute gift? We called up some of our local ABC Fine Wine and Spirits stores and asked them what's hot this year. Here are the top three: one wine, one whisky, and one liqueur (something for everyone!).