Sensitive Throat, Coughing

You know that feeling right before you start getting a cold, when your throat isn't sore yet, but just sensitive enough to make you cough if you breathe in too deep or something? Well, I've been feeling that for almost two weeks now and haven't developed a cold or anything, so I'm not too sure what's wrong with me.

The sensitivity isn't strong, it's fairly subtle. I only cough (dry, with no mucus) a few times a day, so it's not a constant thing. But it hasn't gotten better or worse. At first I thought this might have been somehow caused by alcohol....I'm not a drinker and I happened to take a shot of Jack Daniels and it was way too strong for me and made me cough like crazy. And I think this was a few days before I started noticing that feeling in my throat. Could that have damaged my throat? But even if it had, this was on the 4th of July and it's now the 17th as I'm writing this, so I would think it would've healed by now. I also spend a lot of time in a fairly cold, air conditioned room. Maybe that's all it is that's affecting me?

Does anyone know what this could be? Is this something serious? Should I just start sucking on cough drops or taking Tussin?