🍸 Alcohol Pour Cost Calculator
Calculate profit margins and pour costs for bar and restaurant beverages
Calculation Results
How to Use This Tool
Follow these steps to calculate pour costs for your bar or restaurant:
- Enter the total purchase cost of a full bottle of alcohol.
- Input the bottle’s total volume and select the correct unit (ml or oz).
- Add your standard pour size per drink for this beverage.
- Enter the price you sell a single drink for.
- Optionally add a target pour cost percentage to compare against.
- Click Calculate to see detailed cost and profit breakdowns.
Use the Reset button to clear all fields and start a new calculation.
Formula and Logic
Pour cost measures the percentage of a drink’s selling price that goes toward the cost of the alcohol used. The core formula is:
Pour Cost (%) = (Cost Per Pour / Drink Selling Price) × 100
Where:
- Cost Per Pour = Bottle Purchase Cost / (Bottle Volume / Pour Size)
- Pours Per Bottle = Bottle Volume / Pour Size
- Profit Per Pour = Drink Selling Price - Cost Per Pour
- Profit Margin (%) = (Profit Per Pour / Drink Selling Price) × 100
All volume measurements must use the same unit (ml or oz) for accurate calculations.
Practical Notes
Industry benchmarks for alcohol pour costs typically range between 18% and 24% for most bars and restaurants. Use these guidelines to adjust your pricing:
- Well liquors (house pours) often target 15–20% pour costs.
- Premium and top-shelf spirits may have higher pour costs (20–25%) due to higher bottle costs.
- Wine by the glass usually targets 25–30% pour costs.
- Craft cocktails with multiple ingredients may see pour costs up to 30% but can command higher drink prices to offset this.
Regularly audit pour sizes to ensure bartenders are not over-pouring, which can silently increase your pour costs by 5–10% over time.
Why This Tool Is Useful
Manual pour cost calculations are prone to errors, especially when managing hundreds of SKUs across beer, wine, and spirits. This tool automates the math to give you instant, accurate breakdowns for every beverage on your menu.
Use it to:
- Identify underpricing or overpricing for specific drinks.
- Adjust menu prices to hit target profit margins.
- Compare pour costs across different bottle sizes or suppliers.
- Train staff on standard pour sizes and their impact on profitability.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good pour cost percentage for a bar?
Most profitable bars aim for an overall pour cost between 18% and 24%. Lower is better, but extremely low pour costs may indicate overpricing that drives customers away.
How do I account for mixers and garnishes in pour cost?
This tool calculates pour cost for the alcohol only. Add the cost of mixers, garnishes, and glassware to the bottle cost if you want to calculate total drink cost.
Can I use this for draft beer?
Yes, enter the keg cost as the bottle cost, keg volume as the bottle volume, and pint size (or other draft pour size) as the pour size.
Additional Guidance
Review your pour costs monthly to account for supplier price changes, menu updates, and seasonal drink trends. Pair this with inventory tracking to catch shrinkage (theft, spillage) that can inflate your actual pour costs beyond calculated numbers.
Consider using a standardized jigger for all pours to maintain consistent pour sizes across shifts and staff.