How to use the liquor pour cost calculator
- Enter the price you pay for the bottle, its size and the unit of the size (milliliters, liters or fluid ounces).
- Enter your pour size in fluid ounces and the price you charge for one pour, then a pour cost goal.
- Open the advanced options and enter how many pours you actually served from one bottle, if you counted.
- Read the pour cost percentage, the price needed for your goal, the cost per pour and the table of prices for other goals.
Formula
ounces in the bottle = size in milliliters / 29.5735295625
cost per ounce = bottle price / ounces in the bottle
cost per pour = cost per ounce x pour size
pour cost = cost per pour / selling price per pour
price for a goal = cost per pour / goal
One US fluid ounce is exactly 29.5735295625 milliliters. Pour cost is the liquor cost as a share of the selling price, before mixers, garnish, labor and other costs.
A 750 mL bottle at $24
A 750 mL bottle holds 750 / 29.5735295625 = 25.36 ounces. At $24.00 a bottle the cost is $0.9464 an ounce, and a 1.5 ounce pour costs $1.4195. Sold at $8.00, the pour cost is 17.74 percent.
To reach a 20 percent pour cost the price per pour would be $1.4195 / 0.20 = $7.10. A full bottle gives 25.36 / 1.5 = 16.91 pours. If you served only 14 pours from the bottle, the real cost per pour is $24 / 14 = $1.7143 and the pour cost rises to 21.43 percent.
What pour cost measures
Pour cost compares what the liquor in a drink costs with what you charge for it. A lower percentage means more of the price is left to cover everything else. Because it is a share, it changes with both the bottle price and the selling price, so it is a good number to track when suppliers change prices or when you reprice the menu.
The table of other goals shows the price you would need for a range of pour cost targets and the profit per pour at each one, so you can see how a small change in price changes the margin.
Waste and over-pouring
In practice, bottles rarely yield their full count of pours. Spills, over-pouring, comps and measuring mistakes all mean fewer pours are rung up than the bottle holds. Counting the pours served from a bottle and entering the number shows the cost per pour you really pay and how far the real pour cost is above the theoretical one.
For cocktails made in volume, use the Cocktail Batch Calculator, and for draft beer, the Keg Pours Calculator. To set a number of bartenders for an event, there is the Bartender Staffing Calculator, and for the cost of everything you sold, the COGS Calculator.
Assumptions and limits
- The bottle price, pour size and selling price are figures you enter in dollars and US fluid ounces.
- The page uses the theoretical number of pours, which is the ounces in the bottle divided by the pour size, and does not round it down to whole pours.
- The goal is a percentage of the selling price, and the table shows prices for six goals.
- Mixers, garnish, taxes, tips and labor are not included.
- Rules on pour sizes and pricing vary by place, and nothing typed here leaves your browser.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good pour cost?
There is no single answer. It depends on the kind of drink, the venue and the other costs you have to cover. Use the table to see the price and profit at several goals, and pick the goal that fits your own costs.
Why do I get fewer pours than the page says?
The page counts every ounce in the bottle, but real pours lose some to spills, foam, over-pouring and comps. Enter the pours you actually served to see the effect.
Can I enter a bottle size in liters?
Yes. Choose liters, milliliters or fluid ounces, and the page converts the size using the exact value of a US fluid ounce.
Does the page handle imperial ounces?
No. It uses US fluid ounces. An imperial fluid ounce is about 28.4131 milliliters, so convert your pour size first, or use milliliters for the bottle and a pour size converted to US ounces.