How do I calculate cocktail cost?

Convert each container to a cost per ounce (container price ÷ ounces in the container — a 750 ml bottle holds 25.36 oz), multiply by the amount used in the drink, then add every ingredient together plus garnish, ice and sundries. That total is your cost per cocktail. Countable items like lime wedges or cherries are costed as pack price ÷ units per pack.

What is a good pour cost for cocktails?

Most craft cocktail programs target 18–22%. Simple two-ingredient highballs often land under 15%, while drinks built on premium spirits or fresh juice sit at 22–25%. Above 25% you generally need to reprice, re-spec, or knowingly accept the drink as a loss leader.

How do bars price cocktails?

Bars divide the drink cost by their target pour cost expressed as a decimal: a $2.31 cocktail at a 20% target prices at $11.55. Most operators then round to a clean menu number, sanity-check it against the rest of the list and against what the neighbourhood will pay, and confirm the gross profit in dollars is worth the labour behind the drink.

Does garnish count toward cocktail cost?

Yes. Citrus, cherries, olives, dehydrated wheels, straws, picks and ice are real per-drink costs, and on a cheap highball they can be 10–15% of the total. Cost them as countable each/unit ingredients or roll them into the garnish, ice and sundries field.

How much profit should a bar make on a cocktail?

At a 20% pour cost you keep 80% of the menu price as gross profit — typically $8–$12 on a modern cocktail. Gross profit still has to cover labour, rent and waste, so most operators want at least $7–$8 per drink and watch absolute dollars as closely as percentage.

How many ounces are in a 750 ml bottle?

About 25.36 fl oz, which is roughly 16 pours at 1.5 oz or 12 pours at 2 oz before spillage. A litre holds about 33.8 oz and a 1.75 L handle about 59.2 oz.

Cocktail Tools

Cocktail Cost Calculator

Cost any drink ingredient by ingredient — spirits, modifiers, syrups, bitters, garnish — and see the cost per drink, pour cost percentage and gross profit at your menu price. Everything updates as you type.

Use your real wholesale invoice prices and actual bottle sizes. Dashes and barspoons are supported, because bitters and rich syrups matter more than people expect.

Build your cocktail

Enter what you pay for each container and how much goes in the glass. Everything recalculates as you type.

Cocktail name

Garnish, ice & sundries

Ice, straws, napkins — anything not itemised below.

Spirits · #1
$2.05
Ingredient
$1.03 per oz
Category
Container price
Container size
Used
Unit
Liqueurs · #2
$0.35
Ingredient
$0.47 per oz
Category
Container price
Container size
Used
Unit
Juices · #3
$0.17
Ingredient
$0.22 per oz
Category
Container price
Container size
Used
Unit
Garnishes · #4
$0.06
Ingredient
$0.06 per unit
Category
Pack price
Units per pack
Used
Unit

Target pour cost

Most cocktail programs aim for 18–22%.

Your menu price

What the guest pays, before tax and tip.

BarCalcs · Cocktail costing

Margarita

Cocktail cost

$2.78

Cost of goods per drink

Recommended menu price

$13.89

At 20% pour cost · charm price $13.95

Target pour cost

20%

Multiplier 5.0x

Gross profit

$11.22

At your $14.00 price · 80.2% margin

If you sell Margarita for $14.00, your pour cost is 19.8% and you keep $11.22 per drink. Healthy for a craft cocktail program.

Cost per ingredient

Blanco tequila74%$2.05
Triple sec13%$0.35
Fresh lime juice6%$0.17
Lime wedge2%$0.06
Garnish, ice & sundries$0.15
Total cocktail cost$2.78

Price at other pour costs

At 18% pour cost

$15.43

At 20% pour cost

$13.89

At 22% pour cost

$12.63

At 25% pour cost

$11.11

Profit at volume (your $14.00 price)

50 drinks sold

$561.10

Revenue $700.00

100 drinks sold

$1,122.21

Revenue $1,400.00

500 drinks sold

$5,611.04

Revenue $7,000.00

Saved recipes, costed menus and CSV/PDF exports are coming to free BarCalcs accounts. Nothing you do here needs a login.

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How this calculator works

Cost per ounce

Each bottle is converted to a cost per ounce: bottle cost ÷ ounces in the bottle. A 750 ml bottle holds 25.36 oz, a litre 33.81 oz, a 1.75 L handle 59.17 oz.

Line cost

Cost per ounce × amount poured. Dashes are treated as 1/32 oz and a barspoon as 1/8 oz, which matches standard bar practice closely enough for costing.

Pour cost percentage

Total drink cost ÷ menu price × 100. This is the number your P&L and your GM care about, and the one to compare across your menu.

Gross profit and multiplier

Gross profit is menu price minus drink cost, before labor and overhead. The multiplier is menu price ÷ cost — a fast pricing shortcut behind the bar.

What cocktail cost means

Cocktail cost — sometimes called drink cost or cost of goods per drink — is the total wholesale value of everything that ends up in front of the guest: every spirit, liqueur, wine, beer, syrup, juice, dash of bitters, mixer, garnish, and the ice and straw that go with it. It is not what the drink sells for and it is not your bar's profit. It is the raw input cost of one serve, and every pricing decision on your menu starts from it.

Costing has to be done at the ingredient level because averages lie. Two drinks at the same price can be $2.10 and $4.40 apart in cost once fresh juice, an expensive modifier and a dehydrated garnish are counted, and only the itemised version tells you which one is quietly paying for the other.

How to calculate cocktail cost

1. Use your invoice prices. Take the price you actually pay your distributor for the container, not the shelf price and not the case price divided by guesswork.
2. Convert to a unit cost. Divide the container price by the ounces it holds. A 750 ml bottle holds 25.36 fl oz, so a $26 bottle of tequila is $1.025 per ounce. Countable items are pack price divided by units per pack: a $0.45 lime that yields 8 wedges is $0.056 a wedge.
3. Multiply by the spec. Two ounces of that tequila is $2.05. Dashes are costed at 1/32 oz and a barspoon at 1/8 oz — small, but bitters bottles are expensive per ounce.
4. Add garnish, ice and sundries. Then total the lines. That is your cocktail cost.
5. Re-cost quarterly. Spirit and produce prices move; a spec costed last year is a guess today.

How bars calculate pour cost

Pour cost is cost expressed as a percentage of revenue: drink cost ÷ menu price × 100. A $2.31 cocktail sold at $11.55 runs a 20% pour cost. The same ratio works at the program level — total beverage cost of goods divided by total beverage sales for the period — which is why a per-drink pour cost is directly comparable to the number on your P&L.

Recipe pour cost is the theoretical figure. Period pour cost, calculated from inventory counts, includes over-pouring, spillage, comps and theft, and is almost always higher. The gap between the two is your variance, and it is the single most useful number a bar manager can watch. Use the Pour Cost Calculator for single-spirit pours behind the well.

How to price cocktails

Divide cost by your target pour cost as a decimal: cost ÷ 0.20 for a 20% target, which is the same as a 5× multiplier. Then round to a menu-friendly number and check the result against the market — costing tells you your floor, your neighbourhood tells you your ceiling. If the target price lands well above what guests will pay, the answer is usually a re-spec rather than a price rise.

Judge the whole list, not one drink. A few high-cost showpieces are fine when highballs and beer carry a low pour cost and hold the blended average where you need it. To work backwards from a target percentage across a full menu, use the Menu Pricing Calculator.

How ingredient cost affects profitability

Small spec changes compound fast. Trimming a quarter-ounce of a $32 liqueur saves about $0.26 a drink — $130 across 500 serves — with no visible change to the guest. Conversely, a bar that free-pours 2.25 oz on a 2 oz spec adds roughly 12% to the spirit cost of every cocktail it sells.

Watch dollars alongside percentage. An $18 drink at a 24% pour cost earns $13.68; a $12 drink at 18% earns $9.84. Percentage protects you from cost creep; dollars pay the rent. For high-volume service, batching cuts labour and waste — size it with the Batch Cocktail Calculator — and check the finished strength of any spec you change with the Cocktail ABV Calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate cocktail cost?: Convert each container to a cost per ounce (container price ÷ ounces in the container — a 750 ml bottle holds 25.36 oz), multiply by the amount used in the drink, then add every ingredient together plus garnish, ice and sundries. That total is your cost per cocktail. Countable items like lime wedges or cherries are costed as pack price ÷ units per pack.
What is a good pour cost for cocktails?: Most craft cocktail programs target 18–22%. Simple two-ingredient highballs often land under 15%, while drinks built on premium spirits or fresh juice sit at 22–25%. Above 25% you generally need to reprice, re-spec, or knowingly accept the drink as a loss leader.
How do bars price cocktails?: Bars divide the drink cost by their target pour cost expressed as a decimal: a $2.31 cocktail at a 20% target prices at $11.55. Most operators then round to a clean menu number, sanity-check it against the rest of the list and against what the neighbourhood will pay, and confirm the gross profit in dollars is worth the labour behind the drink.
Does garnish count toward cocktail cost?: Yes. Citrus, cherries, olives, dehydrated wheels, straws, picks and ice are real per-drink costs, and on a cheap highball they can be 10–15% of the total. Cost them as countable each/unit ingredients or roll them into the garnish, ice and sundries field.
How much profit should a bar make on a cocktail?: At a 20% pour cost you keep 80% of the menu price as gross profit — typically $8–$12 on a modern cocktail. Gross profit still has to cover labour, rent and waste, so most operators want at least $7–$8 per drink and watch absolute dollars as closely as percentage.
How many ounces are in a 750 ml bottle?: About 25.36 fl oz, which is roughly 16 pours at 1.5 oz or 12 pours at 2 oz before spillage. A litre holds about 33.8 oz and a 1.75 L handle about 59.2 oz.

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