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How to calculate the true cost of a cocktail, step by step
The cost of every ingredient, the pour cost formula, and how to set a menu price from it, with a worked Manhattan and the percentage mistake to avoid.
Updated October 2026
Rewritten by Alper Billik, Advanced Sommelier
5 min read
The short answer: for each ingredient, divide the bottle price by the bottle size to get the cost per millilitre, then multiply by the millilitres in your recipe. Add everything up, garnish included: that is the cost of the cocktail. To set a price, divide that cost by your target pour cost as a decimal. To check a price, divide the cost by the price.
- Cost per ml = bottle price ÷ bottle size in ml
- Cocktail cost = the sum of (cost per ml × ml used) for every ingredient
- Pour cost % = cocktail cost ÷ selling price × 100
- Selling price = cocktail cost ÷ target pour cost (20% = 0.20)
Every price below is an invented round number, there only to show the maths. Use the prices on your own invoices.
Step 1: write the recipe in millilitres
Write the exact spec, including the small things: dashes of bitters, the garnish, the sugar syrup. If your bar measures in ounces, work in ounces throughout; just don't mix the two. One US fluid ounce is about 29.6 ml, so a 750 ml bottle holds about 25.4 ounces.
Step 2: find the cost per millilitre
Divide what you pay for each bottle by its size. A 750 ml bottle of rye at 30.00 costs 30 ÷ 750 = 0.04 per ml. For dashes, measure your own: shake 20 dashes into a jigger, read the volume and divide by 20. For a garnish sold by the jar, divide the jar price by the number of pieces.
Step 3: cost the cocktail
A Manhattan, with invented prices:
| Ingredient | You buy | Cost per unit | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rye whiskey | 750 ml at 30.00 | 0.04 per ml | 60 ml | 2.40 |
| Sweet vermouth | 1 litre at 20.00 | 0.02 per ml | 30 ml | 0.60 |
| Angostura bitters | 100 ml at 10.00 | 0.10 per ml | 2 dashes, about 2 ml | 0.20 |
| Cocktail cherry | Jar of 20 at 5.00 | 0.25 each | 1 | 0.25 |
| Total | 3.45 |
- Rye whiskey
- You buy750 ml at 30.00
- Cost per unit0.04 per ml
- Used60 ml
- Cost2.40
- Sweet vermouth
- You buy1 litre at 20.00
- Cost per unit0.02 per ml
- Used30 ml
- Cost0.60
- Angostura bitters
- You buy100 ml at 10.00
- Cost per unit0.10 per ml
- Used2 dashes, about 2 ml
- Cost0.20
- Cocktail cherry
- You buyJar of 20 at 5.00
- Cost per unit0.25 each
- Used1
- Cost0.25
- Total
- You buy
- Cost per unit
- Used
- Cost3.45
Step 4: add what the recipe card forgets
- House-made syrups and cordials: cost the whole batch (sugar, fruit, spirit) and divide by the millilitres it yields.
- Fresh citrus: juice a whole case once, measure the yield, and work out the cost per ml of juice. Fruit sizes change, so check again with new suppliers.
- Waste: spills, mistakes and drinks sent back. Record them for a few weeks, and add the true cost back into your numbers.
Step 5: set the price from your target pour cost
Pour cost is the share of the selling price that goes on the ingredients. The rest is your gross profit, which has to pay for wages, rent, energy, glassware and everything else, and then leave a profit. There is no single right target: work it backwards from your own costs. Here is the 3.45 Manhattan at four targets:
| Target pour cost | Divide the cost by | Menu price | Gross profit | Price as a multiple of cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15% | 0.15 | 23.00 | 85% | 6.7 times cost |
| 20% | 0.20 | 17.25 | 80% | 5 times cost |
| 25% | 0.25 | 13.80 | 75% | 4 times cost |
| 30% | 0.30 | 11.50 | 70% | 3.3 times cost |
- 15%
- Divide the cost by0.15
- Menu price23.00
- Gross profit85%
- Price as a multiple of cost6.7 times cost
- 20%
- Divide the cost by0.20
- Menu price17.25
- Gross profit80%
- Price as a multiple of cost5 times cost
- 25%
- Divide the cost by0.25
- Menu price13.80
- Gross profit75%
- Price as a multiple of cost4 times cost
- 30%
- Divide the cost by0.30
- Menu price11.50
- Gross profit70%
- Price as a multiple of cost3.3 times cost
Then round to a price that suits your menu. The Court of Master Sommeliers teaches sommeliers the same sum for wine: selling price = cost price ÷ cost percentage, where the cost percentage is 100% minus the gross profit you want.
The mistake that trips people up
Mixing up the two percentages. A 20% pour cost means an 80% gross profit. To price at 80% gross profit, divide the cost by 0.20, the cost share. Divide by 0.80 instead and the Manhattan comes out at 4.31: a price that barely covers the drink. The Court's own advice is the best rule here: keep money and percentages apart, and always ask which share you are dividing by.
A second trap: markup and margin are not the same thing. Selling a 3.45 drink at 17.25 is a markup of 400% on cost, and a gross margin of 80% of the price.
Taxes
If your menu prices include VAT or sales tax, take the tax out of the selling price before you work out pour cost. Tax is not yours to keep, so it is not part of your gross profit.
The same sum for wine by the glass
Divide the bottle cost by the glasses in it. A 750 ml bottle gives six 125 ml glasses, four 175 ml glasses with 50 ml over, or five 5 oz glasses in the US. A bottle bought at 12.00 (invented) is 2.00 per 125 ml glass; at a 25% cost target, the glass sells at 8.00.
Check the real pour cost every month
Your recipe cost is the theory. The stocktake tells you what really happened:
- Actual cost of drinks = opening stock + purchases − closing stock, all at cost price.
- Actual pour cost = that cost ÷ drinks sales for the same period (without tax).
- If the actual is higher than the theory, look for over-pouring and free-pouring, waste nobody wrote down, drinks given away, a miscount, a wrong delivery or theft. The Court's own business exercises list the same reasons for a stocktake that doesn't add up.
The cheapest fix is a measure on every pour. My guide to wine inventory for sommeliers covers the stocktake itself, and bin numbers make it far quicker.
Two tools for a costed bar
For accurate pours
A Japanese-style jigger
Tall, narrow and marked inside, so the pour is the same every time. Every free-poured cocktail is a guess at your pour cost; a jigger makes it a number.
For building recipes
Cocktail Codex
By Alex Day, Nick Fauchald and David Kaplan of Death & Co (Ten Speed Press, 2018). It groups drinks around six root cocktails, which makes writing and costing your own specs much easier.
Studying for the Court's exams? Cocktails come up in service. See classic gin cocktails for the Certified Sommelier exam.
Questions people ask
What is pour cost?
The cost of the ingredients in a drink divided by its selling price, as a percentage. A drink that costs 3.45 to make and sells for 17.25 has a 20% pour cost.
What is a good pour cost for cocktails?
There is no single right number. It depends on your rent, wages and prices. Decide the gross profit you need, then divide each drink's cost by the cost share: 1 minus that gross profit.
How do I cost a dash of bitters?
Shake 20 dashes into a jigger, read the volume and divide by 20. Multiply that by the cost per ml of the bottle.
How many 2 oz pours are in a 750 ml bottle?
A 750 ml bottle holds about 25.4 US fluid ounces: twelve 2 oz pours, with about 1.4 oz left over.
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