Pour cost calculator for the bar
Enter what you pay for a bottle or keg, the pour you serve and how much you lose to spillage. You get the cost of every pour, your pour cost % and the price per drink that hits your target — plus, for wine, whether a bottle earns more by the glass.
What are you pouring?
Picking a type fills in typical sizes, waste and target. Change anything you like.
Unit
oz = US fluid ounce (29.57 ml). Switching unit converts the sizes you've entered.
What you pay your supplier, excluding any VAT you reclaim.
e.g. 700 or 750 ml for a bottle, 20, 30 or 50 litres for a keg.
The measure you serve: a shot, a glass of wine, a pint.
Over-pours, foam, line cleaning, the last drop in the bottle. 2–5% for bottles, 5–10% for kegs is typical.
Mixers, garnish, ice, syrups. Leave blank for a straight pour.
Typical: 15–20% spirits, 20–25% draft beer, 25–35% wine.
Leave blank if your menu prices exclude tax.
e.g. 0.50 for prices like 6.00, 6.50, 7.00. Always rounded up.
Optional: see the pour cost and margin you actually make today.
Embed this calculator
Free for your blog, school or client site: paste this code where you want the calculator to appear.
Your draft is saved only on your device (localStorage) — no data is sent to a server.
Frequently asked questions
What is pour cost?
Pour cost is the cost of the liquor in a drink as a percentage of its selling price. A shot that costs you €1.20 and sells for €6 has a 20% pour cost. It's the bar's version of food cost: the lower it is, the more of each sale is left to pay staff, rent and profit.
How do you calculate pour cost?
Divide the bottle cost by the usable volume (after waste) to get the cost per ml, multiply by your pour and add any mixers or garnish. Divide that cost per pour by the selling price, net of tax, and multiply by 100.
What is a good pour cost for a bar?
As a rule of thumb, 15–20% for spirits, 20–25% for draft beer, around 25% for bottled beer and 25–35% for wine. Many bars aim for 18–24% overall. Premium bottles often run higher because guests won't pay a proportional price.
Is it better to sell wine by the glass or by the bottle?
By the glass usually earns more per bottle, because each glass is priced higher than its share of the bottle price. But only full glasses can be sold, and an opened bottle that isn't finished in a day or two is wasted. The comparison in this calculator shows how much the by-the-glass premium really is.
Run the bar and the floor on one system with GrazieChef
Open tabs, fast rounds and split bills at the bar, real-time orders from table to kitchen, and a QR menu with your drinks list. Free plan, forever.