Cost a cocktail by adding the cost of every measure — spirits, mixers, garnish, ice — then divide the drink cost by your target pour-cost percentage to price it. Bars usually target an 18–24% pour cost, meaning a drink costing ₹60 to make prices around ₹250–330. Because beverage margins beat food, the bar often carries the room, which is why costing drinks as tightly as dishes is worth the effort.
Pour cost is the bar’s food cost
Everything you know about food cost percentage has a beverage twin: pour cost. It is the cost of the liquor and mixers in a drink as a share of its selling price. Bars run pour cost lower than kitchens run food cost — typically 18–24% — because beverages carry richer margins, which is exactly why a good bar can subsidise a break-even kitchen.
Costing a cocktail, measure by measure
A cocktail is a recipe, so cost it like one — but in measures, not kilos. For each drink, add up: the spirit (cost per bottle ÷ measures per bottle × measures used), mixers and juices, the garnish, and a small allowance for ice and consumables. A 60ml pour from a ₹1,500 bottle that yields ~12 pours is ₹125 of spirit alone; add ₹15 of mixer and ₹10 of garnish and the drink costs ₹150 to make. The discipline is the same as recipe costing: real rates, honest measures, nothing skipped.
Turning drink cost into a price
Selling price = drink cost ÷ target pour-cost %. A drink costing ₹60 at a 22% pour cost prices at ₹60 ÷ 0.22 ≈ ₹273. As with food, that is the floor; positioning, the room, and what the market expects for that drink set the final number. A signature cocktail can carry a premium; a standard highball is anchored by what every other bar charges.
Where bar margin quietly leaks
Bars lose margin in ways kitchens do not, and none of it shows on the menu:
- Over-pouring. A free-poured 75ml where the recipe says 60ml is 25% more liquor per drink, every drink. Jiggers and measured pourers pay for themselves fast.
- Wastage and spillage — spilled, spoiled, or comped drinks that never get logged. A beverage wastage habit applies here too.
- Theft and untracked comps — the reason bars reconcile pour cost against sales tightly.
Track your actual beverage cost against the theoretical, and the gap tells you how much is walking out the door.
Cocktail & Bar Costing Calculator
Cost any drink from bottle price and pour size, get pour cost %, margin and a suggested price at your target. Built for Indian bar programmes.
Step by step
Cost and price a cocktail in four steps.
- Cost each measure. Work out the cost per measure of spirit (bottle price ÷ measures per bottle), plus mixers, juices and garnish.
- Total the drink cost. Add every component, including a small allowance for ice and consumables.
- Apply your target pour cost. Selling price = drink cost ÷ target pour-cost % (commonly 18–24%).
- Control the pour. Use jiggers or measured pourers and reconcile actual against theoretical cost to catch over-pouring and loss.
Frequently asked questions
What is pour cost?
Pour cost is the cost of the liquor and mixers in a drink as a percentage of its selling price — the beverage equivalent of food cost percentage. Bars typically target 18–24%.
How do I price a cocktail?
Cost every measure in the drink — spirit, mixers, garnish, ice — then divide the total by your target pour-cost percentage. A drink costing ₹60 at a 22% pour cost prices at about ₹273 before positioning adjustments.
Why is bar margin higher than food margin?
Beverages carry lower cost relative to price than most food, so pour cost runs lower than food cost. That richer margin is why a well-run bar often carries the profitability of the whole room.
Keep reading
How to Cost a Recipe and Price a Plate: The Indian Restaurant Guide
A step-by-step guide to costing any recipe ingredient-by-ingredient, finding your true cost per portion, and setting a menu price at the food-cost % you actually want.
Happy Hour and Discounts: Do the Numbers Actually Work?
How to tell whether a happy hour or discount makes money — the break-even volume a price cut needs, why margin percentage matters more than the headline discount, and how to design offers that pay.