Bar Pour Cost Calculator
Audit your cocktail pour cost percentages, test wine-by-the-glass pricing against the "Glass #1 Rule," and uncover hidden thousands lost to draft beer foam and line cleaning shrinkage.
Enter your spirit, draft beer, and wine bottle costs. Live pour cost margins and draft foam loss calculate below.
Craft Spirits & Cocktails
Draft Beer & Foam Loss
Cold, steady keg temperatures and clean lines on your supplier’s schedule help reduce foam.
Wine-by-the-Glass (BTG)
Under-priced! One glass should equal the full bottle cost to protect against oxidized/spoiled open bottles.
Step 2: Live Calculated Beverage Program Health
Dynamic Real-Time OutputHow to use this calculator
This calculator works out pour cost for cocktails, draft beer and wine by the glass, and what beer lost to foam costs you over a year.
- For a cocktail: enter the bottle cost and size, your pour in ounces, mixer and garnish cost and the menu price.
- For draft beer: enter the keg price, kegs used per week, pint price and how much you lose to foam.
- For wine: enter the bottle cost, the glass price and the pour size.
- Compare each drink with your own targets, and re-check when supplier prices change.
What’s a good number?
Pour cost is drink cost divided by drink price. Liquor, beer and wine have different costs, so set a separate target for each and track them over time.
A pour cost that rises while prices stay the same usually means over-pouring, waste or a price increase from your supplier.
Worked example
An example bar program. The figures are invented; the results are what this calculator gives for them.
| Cocktail: bottle cost / size / pour | $24 / 750 ml / 1.5 oz |
|---|---|
| Cocktail: mixer and garnish / price | $0.75 / $12 |
| Draft: keg price / pint price / foam loss | $180 / $7 / 10% |
| Wine: bottle cost / glass price / pour | $14 / $12 / 6 oz |
| Cocktail pour cost | 18.8% |
|---|---|
| Draft beer pour cost | 23% |
| Wine pour cost | 27.6% |
| Beer lost to foam per year (2 kegs a week, at cost) | $1,872 |
A 750 ml bottle gives 16 full 1.5 oz pours. Each extra splash means fewer pours per bottle and a higher pour cost.
Common questions
How do I calculate pour cost?
Divide what the drink costs you by its menu price and multiply by 100. For a spirit, the cost is the bottle price divided by the number of pours, plus any mixer and garnish.
How many pours are in a 750 ml bottle?
A 750 ml bottle holds about 25.4 ounces, so about 16 full pours at 1.5 ounces or about 20 at 1.25 ounces. Free pouring usually gives fewer.
How much beer is lost to foam?
It varies with line temperature, pressure and how the beer is poured. Clean lines, the right temperature and good pouring technique all reduce it. The calculator shows what each point of loss costs you.
Every formula and assumption is on How we calculate.
Was this useful?
Cocktail pour cost
16.0%
Beer lost to foam / year
$9,828