Drinks Pricing and Bar Costing: Pour Cost

In short: to price drinks well, cost every serve exactly, set targets for each category, measure what you pour and count what you hold. Then check your pricing against your market, your licence rules and your guests' expectations.

About 8 minutes to read. General information as of October 2026. Licensing, measures and age rules differ by country; check your authority. Examples use made up numbers.

Drinks often carry a higher margin than food, which makes them important to the profit of a restaurant or bar. They also leak: free pours, wrong tickets, spillage, spoilage and theft are easy to miss because the product is liquid and fast.

Cost every serve

Start with the cost of the bottle, keg or case, then work out the cost of one serve.

For draught beer, include the wastage from the line and the foam. For wine by the glass, work from the bottle size and the glass size, and include the chance that part of a bottle is thrown away.

Cocktails and mixed drinks

Write a standard recipe for every cocktail, with the exact measure of each ingredient, the garnish, the ice and the glass.

A made up cocktail at 9.50 has a pour cost of about 20.5 percent. Use recipe costing methods for the full recipe and update the cost whenever a supplier changes the price.

Coffee, tea and soft drinks

Non alcoholic drinks often carry the highest percentage margin, but guests compare them directly with nearby places. Cost the coffee, the milk, the cup and the lid. Offer good low and no alcohol options at a fair price, since many guests choose them and they should feel like a first class choice, not an afterthought.

Set targets by category

Different categories have different markets, so different targets. Use your own results and your market to set each one.

1. Soft drinks and hot drinks.
2. Draught and bottled beer and cider.
3. Wine by the glass and by the bottle.
4. Spirits and cocktails.
5. Low and no alcohol drinks.

Published ranges differ by source, so treat them as a starting point only. The right pour cost is the one that gives your venue the gross profit it needs. See gross profit and prime cost.

Price with the market in mind

After costing, check:

• Your guests: what do they expect to pay in a place like yours?
• Nearby competition: compare similar quality.
• The occasion: a drink with dinner, a happy hour or a late night cocktail are all priced in context.
• The price ladder: offer a range, from a house wine to a premium one. A visible mid priced choice tends to sell well. See menu engineering.
• Round numbers: price in steps your guests find clear.

Wine often carries a larger markup by the glass than by the bottle; be clear about sizes so that guests can compare. See how to price a menu.

Measures and the rules

Many countries regulate the sizes in which alcohol may be sold and require you to display or offer them. Age checks and responsible service are legal duties. In England and Wales, for instance, a premises licence, a designated premises supervisor and a personal licence are part of the licensing system under the Licensing Act 2003; see GOV.UK, alcohol licensing. Your local Trading Standards office and licensing authority tell you the measure rules that apply. See licences and permits.

Control the stock

1. Count on a schedule. Weekly counts of spirits, and frequent counts of high value items. Count in the same units each time.
2. Compare usage with sales. Expected usage from sales and recipes against actual usage from the counts. The gap is your variance.
3. Record waste. Spillage, breakages, spoiled wine and returns, with a reason. See reducing food waste.
4. Record comps and staff drinks through the till, with a reason.
5. Store properly, with a locked area and a single person responsible for receiving.
6. Rotate stock. See FIFO and storage.

DineHarbor's inventory tools support stock items, purchase orders, receiving and stock counts, and flag variance against thresholds you set. A flag is a prompt to look, not proof of a problem. See stock control.

Reduce loss without blaming staff

• Use measures and fixed glass sizes.
• Write recipes for every mixed drink and keep them visible.
• Train staff on pouring. See staff training.
• Keep the till and the bar in step: every drink rung before it is served.
• Look for patterns, such as a shift with a higher variance or one product that always goes missing.
• Review comps, voids and discounts weekly. See weekly numbers.

Happy hours and promotions

A discount lowers the margin per drink, so it must bring extra guests who also order food or more drinks. Test it for a few weeks, track the numbers and stop it if it only moves the same guests to a cheaper hour. Keep promotions within the law; many places restrict irresponsible promotions such as unlimited drinks for a fixed price.

Check the whole picture

Your drinks gross profit should be tracked next to food. Add up sales by category, subtract the cost of what you actually used, and compare with your target and last month. DineHarbor reports show top products and sales comparisons from the till, which you can set against stock counts.

A checklist

1. Cost every serve.
2. Write standard recipes for mixed drinks.
3. Set a target per category.
4. Price against the market and the occasion.
5. Use measures and count on a schedule.
6. Record waste, comps and staff drinks.
7. Check the licence and measure rules.
8. Review variance weekly.

Want stock and sales side by side? Start the 30 day free trial with no card needed.