Pour Cost
The single most important number in your bar. What it means, how it's calculated, and what targets to aim for.
Updated May 6, 2026
Pour cost is the cost of a drink expressed as a percentage of what you sell it for. It's the number you'll hear most in any bar conversation about profitability, and the one PourCost optimizes for on every screen.
Pour Cost
(Cost of ingredients in a drink) divided by (menu price), expressed as a percentage. Also called Cost %, Liquor Cost, or Beverage Cost.
The math
A cocktail that costs you $2 in ingredients and sells for $10 has a 20% pour cost. Two dollars divided by ten, times one hundred. That's the entire formula.
Industry targets
- Spirit-forward cocktail program: 16 to 22% pour cost.
- Beer and wine focused program: 25 to 30% pour cost.
- Mixed program: look at each category separately, not the blend.
These are starting points, not laws. A neighborhood dive priced for volume runs hotter; a craft cocktail bar with a destination program can afford to run cooler because each ticket is bigger.
Why it matters
Pour cost is a feedback loop. If yours is creeping up week over week, your costs went up, your prices didn't, or your bartenders are overpouring. PourCost surfaces the gap so you can fix it before it eats a quarter.
A high pour cost isn't always bad