TRENDS
Industry Trend Report
The Cocktail
Profitability
Handbook
An extensive analysis of the
profitability of 28 classic
cocktails.
BevSpot brings you this exclusive handbook
to help you break down your cocktail list and
learn what you should really expect in terms
of profitability.
Stephen Ngo
CONTENTS
1
Introduction
2
The Unforgettables
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
By Average Pour Cost
Cost vs. Profit Breakdown
Manhattan
Sazerac
Negroni
Whiskey Sour
Martini
Aviation
Old Fashioned
Daiquiri
Tom Collins
14
Contemporary Classics
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
By Average Pour Cost
Cost vs. Profit Breakdown
Mai Tai
Piña Colada
Long Island Iced Tea
Cosmopolitan
Mimosa
Margarita
Mojito
Bloody Mary
Tequila Sunrise
Moscow Mule
27
New Era and Non-IBA Drinks
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
By Average Pour Cost
Cost vs. Profit Breakdown
Last Word
Vieux Carre
Vesper
Boulevardier
Gimlet
White Russian
Dark ‘n Stormy
Bloody Maria
Paloma
39
Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
Data can be a powerful tool in a bar manager’s toolkit.
In our previous analyses of bar profitability, we
looked into the data of our users’ overall profitability
metrics. What we discovered was that the typical
pour cost of a BevSpot user was about 15% for
spirits & cocktails. What this translates to is that,
before paying wages and rent, the median BevSpot
establishment is getting an 85% gross profit margin
on its Moscow Mule.
If that number seems off to you, your instincts are
close to the truth. When we delved a little deeper
into the data, it revealed that the 15% aggregate pour
cost does measure general profitability for individual
establishments, but it also represents an average of all
the various drinks being sold by those bars. As most
will know from experience, costs and pricing can vary
widely between drinks, especially cocktails: the profit
margin on a bar’s Negroni recipe almost certainly
won’t be the same as that of its Old Fashioned.
What's BevSpot?
Understanding the costs and profit margins of
various recipes is critical for designing and pricing a
successful drink menu. Within this handbook, we’ll
be crunching these numbers for a range of common
cocktails. By understanding the base performance
of these common cocktails, you should be able
to confidently know what to expect in terms of
profitability as you are crafting your own cocktail list.
We took a look at BevSpot user sales data from
nine major metro areas across the United States to
see which popular cocktails are the most and least
profitable for bars. We then organized our results
by International Bartenders Association cocktail
category. Here’s what we found.
BevSpot is a bar management software platform
for inventory, ordering, invoicing and unlocking your
bar’s sales data. Sales data from the platform has
generated the insights discussed in this report.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Introduction
1
SECTION 01
The Unforgettables
T H E U N F O R G E T TA B L E S B Y AV E R A G E P O U R C O S T
Across BevSpot customers
POUR COST
0%
4%
8%
12%
16%
20%
24%
100%
96%
92%
88%
84%
80%
76%
Tom Collins
Daiquiri
Old Fashioned
Aviation
Martini
Whiskey Sour
Negroni
Sazerac
Manhattan
GROSS PROFIT MARGIN
Firstly, keep in mind that a bar’s pour cost—also
known as its cost percentage, or liquor cost of goods
sold—is equal to its product usage divided by its sales,
or one minus its gross profit margin (we’ve provided
a handy explainer for calculating pour costs). A 15%
pour cost means that 15% of a drink’s price goes to
paying for the drink itself; the other 85% goes to
employee wages, rent and other operating expenses.
A higher pour cost makes a drink more relatively
expensive for the bar, while a lower pour cost makes a
drink relatively more profitable.
In short: the lower the pour cost, the higher the
profit margin.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
To generate our pour cost estimates, we compared
the average prices charged by BevSpot users to
their unit costs before adjustments for spillage
and comped drinks. This is to show the theoretical
margins that bars target when initially building and
pricing their menus.
Of the nine cocktails covered in this IBA category,
the Manhattan is the most costly for your bartender
to serve; the Tom Collins, the most profitable. As
a group, these cocktails have an average pour cost
of 16.8%. The relatively high pour costs of the
Manhattan, Sazerac, and Negroni push the average
up. When you exclude those drinks, the average of the
group is 14.4%.
3
T H E U N F O R G E T TA B L E S C O S T V S . P R O F I T B R E A K D O W N
Across BevSpot customers
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
Tom Collins
Daiquiri
Old Fashioned
Aviation
Martini
Whiskey Sour
Negroni
Sazerac
Manhattan
SA L E P R I C E
Unit cost
Unit profit
It’s also worth keeping in mind that pour cost is a
ratio. If a bar is pricing all of its drinks to have similar
profit margins, drinks that are more costly to make
would be more expensive. In this chart, we show
how product costs and pricing interact to generate
this metric. For example, while the Martini and Old
Fashioned have similar product costs, the Martini
tends to be sold at a higher price point. For the bar,
both cost and price are indispensable metrics; pour
cost is useful because it uses both measures.
for the bars that make them, but are dependent on
the policies and training provided by individuals
bar. Such expenses into their bottom lines in a way
that isn’t reflective of the true basic cost of making a
drink. To account for this, we show the average unit
cost and profit of each cocktail—after adjustments.
As a group, the Unforgettables have an average
price of just over $9 and an average cost of
around $1.60.
Note that these unit cost and profit estimates are
after adjustments for spillage and comped drinks are
made. Such adjustments reflect additional expenses
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
4
M A N H AT TA N P R I C E B R E A K D O W N
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Manhattan
POUR COST
23.7%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$2.21
76.3%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
2 oz Rye or Canadian whiskey
1 oz Sweet Red Vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
$6.98
Maraschino cherry
The Manhattan is about 60–70% whiskey by
volume. It’s the most important part of the drink,
so customers want that whiskey to be a quality
brand—preferably rye, due to both consumer flavor
preferences and the 19th century roots of the
drink. This can’t be hidden. That results in a recipe
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
where the drink itself is entirely made of alcoholic
components (as opposed to being watered down or
filled with juice), which results in a product that’s
relatively costly for the bar.
5
SAZERAC PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Sazerac
POUR COST
20.6%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$2.18
79.4%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1½ oz Rye Whiskey or Cognac
¼ oz Absinthe
1 sugar cube
$8.27
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
The typical Sazerac has the same rye or cognac
content as a Manhattan or Vieux Carre. But it
substitutes these peers’ full ounce of sweet vermouth
with a quarter ounce (or in some cases, less) of
absinthe. The choice to substitute a healthy serving
of a relatively prolific beverage (sweet vermouth)
with a stingy helping of a more niche one (absinthe)
is one that’s about neutral in cost terms—the
average Sazerac costs about as much to produce as
a Manhattan or Vieux Carre, even at a diminished
serving size.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
In this case, the difference in pour cost comes from
higher pricing: the average sale price of a Sazerac
is just under $10.50 in our data set, making it the
highest-priced cocktail in this list. Esquire has
referred to this drink as the “Connoisseur’s Choice”
for mixed drinks—and whenever that’s the case, the
connoisseurs pay for it.
6
NEGRONI PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Negroni
POUR COST
20.5%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.95
GROSS MARGIN
79.5%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1 oz gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet red vermouth
The Negroni and the Boulevardier are quite similar
drinks; yet in spite of their similarities, the former
has an average pour cost of 20.5%, while the latter has
an average pour cost of just 16.4%. Where does that
4.1 percentage point difference come from?
$6.89
The second reason is that the Negroni is more
popular, and often sold in bars that don’t really sell
Boulevardiers. These bars often have high cocktail
pour costs compared to ones with more expansive
programs—skewing the average.
The first reason is that the Negroni traditionally
uses an ounce of gin instead of an ounce-and-a-half
of bourbon. Among bars in the data set that served
both cocktails and only varied this component of this
recipes, this made the Negroni about 20 cents more
expensive. In these bars, the Negroni was served at a
pour cost between 2 and 5 percentage points higher
than its counterpart’s.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
7
WHISKEY SOUR PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Whiskey Sour
POUR COST
16.1%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$1.37
83.9%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1½ oz Bourbon Whiskey
1 oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz Gomme syrup
$6.72
1 dash egg white
Unlike most of the household names of the whiskey
cocktail world, this drink follows a template common
among the low-pour-cost members of the vodka and
rum kingdoms: a liquor base masked with fruit juice
and/or syrup. In such cases, the quality of that liquor
base is much more flexible—the bar can often produce
a functional drink without reaching for the top shelf.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
And, given that juice and syrup are always cheaper
than vermouth and bitters, this recipe is almost the
highest-margin drink on this list—even at by far the
lowest average sale price.
8
MARTINI PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Martini
POUR COST
15.8%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$1.56
84.2%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
3 oz gin
½ oz dry vermouth
$7.78
As cocktails go, the Martini is one of the most
ubiquitous in popular culture. James Bond’s usual
drink of choice is somewhat above average when it
comes to pour costs for bars. It’s a veritable work
horse, but to be a true cash cow, the margins need to
be higher.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
9
AV I AT I O N P R I C E B R E A K D O W N
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Aviation
POUR COST
14.5%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.31
GROSS MARGIN
85.5%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
2 oz gin
¾ oz lemon juice
¾ oz Maraschino liqueur
$7.47
Sweet yet acidic, this drink manages to be mostly
liquor by volume, and still cost a relatively measly
$1.31 to produce on average.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
10
OLD FASHIONED PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Old Fashioned
POUR COST
13.8%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$1.55
86.2%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1½ oz Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 sugar cube
$7.40
2-3 dashes plain water
Simple, classic, economical: the whiskey cocktail of
old has a pour cost to match its traditional austerity.
In addition to the relatively high profit margins it
generates, this drink is one of the highest-selling
cocktails among BevSpot bars, making it one of the
biggest cash cows of any product in our data set (not
that that’s a surprise).
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
11
DAIQUIRI PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Daiquiri
POUR COST
13.6%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.36
GROSS MARGIN
86.4%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1 ½ oz white rum
1 oz lime juice
½ oz simple syrup
$7.73
This drink’s simplicity is a key element of its
enduring appeal. That also makes it a lucrative one
for bars: 3 ingredients mixed together in a shaker, all
of them staples of any cocktail program. It manages
to have an average pour cost of less than 14%, even
with one of the lowest average sale prices of its rumbased peers.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
12
TOM COLLINS PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Tom Collins
POUR COST
12.4%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.22
GROSS MARGIN
87.6%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
2 oz carbonated water
1 ½ oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
$8.63
½ oz simple syrup
This drink is loaded with components that are
commonly used to water down liquor in low-pourcost cocktails: water, lemon juice, and syrup. Its
12.4% pour cost makes it one of the highest-margin
cocktails that we have examined; on average, it
costs about as much to produce as a margarita,
but at a higher sale price. It's a recipe for profit as
straightforward as the recipe of the drink itself.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | The Unforgettables
13
SECTION 02
Contemporary Classics
C O N T E M P O R A R Y C L A S S I C S B Y AV E R A G E P O U R C O S T
Across BevSpot customers
POUR COST
0%
3%
6%
9%
12%
15%
18%
21%
100%
97%
94%
91%
88%
85%
82%
79%
Moscow Mule
Tequila Sunrise
Bloody Mary
Mojito
Margarita
Mimosa
Cosmopolitan
Long Island Iced Tea
Piña Colada
Mai Tai
GROSS PROFIT MARGIN
Of the ten cocktails covered in this IBA category,
the Mai Tai is the most costly for your bartender
to serve; the Tom Collins, the most profitable. As a
group, these cocktails have an average pour cost of
13.7%—over three percentage points lower than
that of the Unforgettables.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
15
CONTEMPORARY CL ASSICS COST VS. PROFIT BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
Moscow Mule
Tequila Sunrise
Bloody Mary
Mojito
Margarita
Mimosa
Cosmopolitan
Long Island Iced Tea
Piña Colada
Mai Tai
SA L E P R I C E
Unit cost
Unit profit
Like the Unforgettables, the Contemporary Classics
we examined also have an average price of around $9,
yet they have significantly lower pour costs. This is
because they cost an average of $1.30 to make. This
holds true even when you exclude the Bloody Mary,
the drink with the lowest average price of the group
(and the lowest unit cost to produce).
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
16
M A I TA I P R I C E B R E A K D O W N
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Mai Tai
POUR COST
19.1%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$2.27
80.9%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1 ½ oz white rum
¾ oz dark rum
½ oz lime juice
$8.24
½ oz orange curaçao
½ oz orgeat syrup
The Mai Tai has a pour cost 3.3 percentage points
higher than the next most costly rum cocktail that
we examined (the Piña Colada). In our sample, it also
tends to be the highest priced at $10.51. What gives?
For starters, most lists of essential rum cocktails are
dominated by recipes that call the tropics to mind;
this list is no exception. Such recipes call for fruit
juice, and plenty of it. The Mai Tai distinguishes itself
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
from its tropical peers with its disproportionately
high alcohol content. While the other drinks
described here are at most half liquor by volume,
70% or more of a typical Mai Tai will be made of rum
and orange liqueur. As a result, this drink becomes
relatively more costly to make.
17
PIÑA COL ADA PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Piña Colada
POUR COST
15.8%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.42
GROSS MARGIN
84.2%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
4 oz pineapple juice
1 oz golden rum
1 oz coconut rum
This is one drink where the managers at Bevspot bars
might be splurging a bit more, to their patrons’ benefit
(or detriment). While a quick Google search yields
Piña Colada recipes that call for 1 part rum and 4
parts juice and cream, our data tends to have recipes
that call for 2 parts rum and 4 parts juice.
$7.58
heavy recipes yield an average estimated pour cost of
15.8%. Water down your drinks with their non-liquor
components, and you might see a pour cost more akin
to those of the following drinks.
When paired with an average sale price ($9.00) that is
the lowest of any cocktail on this list, the more rum-
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
18
LONG ISL AND ICED TEA PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Long Island Iced Tea
POUR COST
13.9%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
GROSS MARGIN
½ oz gin
½ oz vodka
½ oz Triple Sec
½ oz white rum
$1.46
86.1%
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz gomme syrup
UNIT PROFIT
½ oz tequila
$8.89
Splash of cola
The Long Island Iced Tea is a perfect drink for
summer, when the data shows vodka, rum, and tequila
consumption spike. If you’re building a vodka and
tequila-dominated cocktail menu for warm weather,
it’s worth considering this drink’s relatively low pour
cost—though with eight or more possible ingredients,
you might want to consider the associated labor costs.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
19
C O S M O P O L I TA N P R I C E B R E A K D O W N
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Cosmopolitan
POUR COST
13.5%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$1.18
86.5%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1 ½ oz vodka citron
1 oz cranberry juice
½ oz lime juice
$7.49
½ oz Cointreau
The sweeter, fruity flavors of the juices and Cointreau
in this drink ensure that it goes down more easily,
even if the bartender isn’t using top shelf vodka. So
while the Cosmo isn’t as cheap to produce as other
juice-dependent recipes, it allows the manager to find
a more reasonable trade-off between liquor quality
and price.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
20
MIMOSA PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Mimosa
POUR COST
13.3%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$1.18
86.7%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
2 ½ oz orange juice
2 ½ oz champagne
$7.49
This, perhaps the most ubiquitous of brunch
cocktails, is simple, refreshing, and very often made
in batches. Simplicity in production on a large scale
is the key to keeping costs down. As a result, at $1.16
per serving, this cocktail is one of the cheapest for
bars in terms of unit cost. It’s the under-recognized
powerhouse of a boozy brunch program.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
21
M A R G A R I TA P R I C E B R E A K D O W N
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Margarita
POUR COST
13.1%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.25
GROSS MARGIN
86.9%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
4 oz tequila
1 oz lime juice
1 oz Cointreau
The most popular of tequila cocktails is represented
in our data by a large diversity of flavors and recipe
variants. So, while the most traditional recipe listed
here is certainly common, we have taken into account
these variants while calculating our expected cocktail
pour cost.
$7.01
generally leads to a higher pour cost. Yet for the
Margarita, a high liquor content doesn’t lead to high
pour costs relative to other tequila cocktails. This
is probably indicative of the uniquely high gross
margins that tequila-based recipes can generate for
a beverage program.
Yet the 13.1% average pour cost we observed is almost
2 whole percentage points below the average bar’s
spirit & cocktail pour cost. For most of the major
spirit types, higher liquor content in a cocktail
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
22
MOJITO PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Mojito
POUR COST
13.0%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.33
GROSS MARGIN
87.0%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1 ½ oz white rum
1 oz lime juice
6 mint leaves
$8.52
2 tsp sugar
Soda water
Bartenders are probably disappointed to see this
item at this point in our list. And for perfectly valid
reasons: it’s time-consuming to make, the mint is
irritating to stock and keep fresh, and orders for the
cocktail spread like wildfire among inexperienced
drinkers.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
In protest, some bartenders have taken to refusing to
prepare the problem drink. But practically speaking,
time spent mixing a mojito is worthwhile if the
bartender and the bar are properly compensated.
With an average cocktail pour cost of 13%, it seems
like BevSpot bars have the right idea.
23
BLOODY MARY PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Bloody Mary
POUR COST
12.9%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
2 oz tomato juice
1 celery stalk
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 pinch salt
1 ½ oz vodka
¾ tsp horseradish
¼ tsp lemon juice
$0.89
87.1%
3 dashes tabasco
$5.89
1 dash pepper
This cocktail sees pretty large variation in pour
cost because its contents vary so widely; while the
vodka and tomato juice are a constant, our measures
of the typical Bloody Mary price and unit cost are
representative of some kind of middle ground in how
Bevspot bars build theirs. Though recipes for this
drink can be time-consuming to complete (a factor
which bars may be using to justify higher pricing
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
independent of product cost), this drink’s lower
liquor content relative to other cocktails results in a
lower pour cost overall. This is especially true if the
other flavors overpower thriftiness in the bar’s choice
of vodka.
24
TEQUILA SUNRISE PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Tequila Sunrise
POUR COST
12.6%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.07
GROSS MARGIN
87.4%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
3 oz orange juice
1 ½ oz tequila
½ oz Grenadine syrup
$7.42
The high ratio of juice to tequila in this recipe keeps
the liquor cost low. Its most typical recipes also
add a dose of syrup, making it even sweeter than
many other juice-loaded drinks. Bars can use pretty
much any tequila they want to keep Tequila Sunrise
drinkers happy—which, unsurprisingly, results in low
pour costs across the board.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
25
MOSCOW MULE PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Moscow Mule
POUR COST
9.4%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.01
GROSS MARGIN
90.6%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
4 oz ginger beer
1½ oz vodka
� oz lime juice
With less than 30% liquor by volume and a reputation
that Esquire has called “silly”, the Moscow Mule
gives bars plenty of room to find profits without really
skimping on quality. The ginger beer overpowers
much of the variation in flavor between choices of
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Contemporary Classics
$9.22
vodka brand; Marie Claire’s take calls for Smirnoff.
The drink is profitable and easy to make—if you
serve it at your bar, put this one at or near the top
of the menu.
26
SECTION 03
New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
N E W E R A & N O N - I B A D R I N K S B Y AV E R A G E P O U R C O S T
Across BevSpot customers
POUR COST
0%
4%
8%
12%
16%
20%
24%
28%
100%
96%
92%
88%
84%
80%
76%
72%
Paloma
Bloody Maria
Dark ‘n Stormy
White Russian
Gimlet
Boulevardier
Vesper
Vieux Carre
Last Word
GROSS PROFIT MARGIN
Of the nine cocktails that are either “New Era” IBA
drinks, or not IBA-sanctioned, the Last Word is the
most costly for your bartender to serve; the Paloma,
the most profitable. As a group, these cocktails
have an average pour cost of 16.9%—slightly higher
than that of the Unforgettables, mostly due to the
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
Last Word and the Vieux Carre, which are outliers
compared to the rest of the group’s pour costs.
The rest have margins more similar to those of the
Contemporary Classics.
28
NEW ERA & NON-IBA DRINKS COST VS. PROFIT BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
Paloma
Bloody Maria
Dark ‘n Stormy
White Russian
Gimlet
Boulevardier
Vesper
Vieux Carre
Last Word
SALE PRICE
Unit cost
Unit profit
Put together, the New Era and Non-IBA cocktails
we looked at have an average cost around that of the
Unforgettables ($1.60) and an average price that is
higher than that of the Unforgettables (around $9.50).
But the diversity of this group makes it more difficult
for any generalizations to stick. It includes two of the
costliest cocktails that we examined (the Last Word
and the Vieux Carre) and one of the least costly (the
Paloma). Take those averages with a grain of salt.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
29
LAST WORD PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Last Word
POUR COST
27.8%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$2.60
72.2%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
¾ oz green chartreuse
¾ oz gin
¾ oz Maraschino liqueur
$6.36
¾ oz lime juice
Rachael Maddow once called this drink the “last
word for the end of the world.” Likewise, you might
want to make this depression-era creation the last
word for the end of your menu, if at all. Almost half
of the recipe’s cost comes from its green Chartreuse,
a liqueur produced by two monks in a single French
distillery; this and the drink’s maraschino liqueur
means that half the drink’s volume comes from more
specialized ingredients, which tends to lead to higher
costs. Its cult popularity also ensures that it tends to
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
be popular among cocktail aficionados, who would
prefer that it be served with higher-quality gin and
fresh lime juice.
Yet despite its high unit cost, the Last Word tends
to be priced at about $8.96, below average for
the gin cocktails covered here. This makes for a
disproportionately high average pour cost—the last
thing any bar should highlight on its menu.
30
VIEUX CARRE PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Vieux Carre
POUR COST
22.4%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
1 oz Rye Whiskey
1 tsp Benedictine Liqueur
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 oz Cognac
$2.14
77.6%
1 dash Peychaud’s Bitters
$7.42
Lemon twist
Like the Manhattan, this 1930s New Orleans creation
is mostly rye whiskey and sweet vermouth by weight,
with a couple dashes of bitters and a piece of fruit for
garnish; it mainly diverges by substituting cognac for
half of the Manhattan’s rye volume. Accordingly, the
drinks have quite similar average unit costs, with the
Manhattan being only 7 cents more costly.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
Their 1.3 percentage point difference in pour cost
comes from their pricing: the average Vieux Carre
is sold at a 44 cent higher price, possibly due to some
combination of the difference in recipes and the
extra labor required to produce a slightly more
complex recipe.
31
VESPER PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Vesper
POUR COST
16.9%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$1.74
83.1%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
2 oz gin
½ oz vodka
¼ oz Lillet Blanc
You probably know that this drink first appeared in
1953’s Casino Royale, the first of Ian Fleming’s many
James Bond novels. Like his character, Fleming was
a prolific drinker with a taste for good liquor, and
it shows: this recipe is over 90% gin and vodka by
volume, so liquor quality is key. This is especially true
if the customers who want it have discerning taste
buds. Even with higher pricing, cocktails with more
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
$8.30
liquor by volume often have higher pour costs, and
this is no exception.
This cocktail’s reliance on gin and vodka makes it
relatively costly overall—but since it emphasizes
these over the Negroni’s Campari and vermouth, it
does not become an outlier.
32
B O U L E VA R D I E R P R I C E B R E A K D O W N
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Boulevardier
POUR COST
16.4%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$1.68
83.6%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1½ oz Bourbon Whiskey
1 oz Campari
1 oz Sweet Red Vermouth
This bourbon-based cousin of the Negroni is around
50 cents cheaper to produce than the whiskey
cocktails previously discussed. Much of this is due
to the substitution of 2 ounces of rye with 1.5 ounces
of bourbon—a smaller volume of whiskey, usually at
a lower unit cost. In fact, while the rye constituted
most of the previous drinks’ costs (commonly
around $1.50 of it, to be precise), the Campari in this
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
$7.92
recipe actually constitutes most of its cost: while
the Campari accounts for about $1 of the total $1.68
unit cost, the bourbon is responsible for fewer than
50 cents.
Since the Boulevardier’s $9.60 average price tag is
around that of the Vieux Carre, this means that it
comes at a much lower pour cost for the bar.
33
GIMLET PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Gimlet
POUR COST
15.2%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.45
GROSS MARGIN
84.8%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
2 ½ oz gin
½ oz lime juice
½ oz simple syrup
$8.12
The Gimlet has an average pour cost of around 15%,
which is pretty close to the median spirit & cocktail
pour cost we’ve seen before. Like many of the lowerpour-cost cocktails we’ve seen before, this drink
manages to be cheaper because of its use of juice
and syrup; for such a drink, however, it is relatively
high in its liquor base by weight. The Gimlet is not
particularly cheap, and not particularly costly.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
34
WHITE RUSSIAN PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
White Russian
POUR COST
15.0%
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
$1.32
85.0%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
1 ⅔ oz vodka
1 oz cream
⅔ oz coffee liqueur
$7.27
At around a 15% pour cost, the White Russian—the
drink in part popularized by “The Big Lebowski”—is
almost exactly “middle of the road” when it comes to
spirit and cocktail profitability and even price point.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
35
DARK ‘N STORMY PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Dark ‘n Stormy
POUR COST
14.9%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.47
GROSS MARGIN
85.1%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
3 ⅓ oz ginger beer
2 oz dark rum
2 dashes of bitters
While it lacks the fruit juice content of more
traditionally “tropical” rum-based cocktails,
the Dark ‘n Stormy’s murky origins definitely
involve Bermuda to some extent—making it
more authentically tropical than the Californiaderived Mai Tai.
$8.15
is in the pricing: while the the Dark ‘n Stormy and
Piña Colada both had average unit costs of around
$1.45, the former tended to sell for above $8 a unit,
while the latter sold for closer to $7.50 a unit.
The drink’s traditional recipe has a composition
similar to that of the Piña Colada: 4 parts a sweet
non-liquor component, 2 parts rum. The difference
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
36
BLOODY MARIA PRICE BREAKDOWN
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Bloody Maria
POUR COST
12.8%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
UNIT PROFIT
GROSS MARGIN
2 oz tomato juice
1 celery stalk
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 dash Tapatio hot sauce
1 ½ oz tequila
¾ tsp horseradish
¼ tsp lemon juice
$1.20
87.2%
1 dash tabasco
$8.15
1 pinch salt
1 dash pepper
As you might have guessed, this drink is a tequilabased variant of the Bloody Mary. It has a pretty
similar average pour cost to the original cocktail, but
as we noted in our vodka cocktail list, this average
masks wide variation in margins due to differences
in how bars build their recipes. The same drivers
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
of lower pour cost are also true of this drink: lower
liquor content, strong flavors overpowering the
taste of the alcohol, and a high time cost of labor that
businesses may be pricing in.
37
PA L O M A P R I C E B R E A K D O W N
Across BevSpot customers
UNIT COST
Paloma
POUR COST
10.4%
UNIT PROFIT
$1.05
GROSS MARGIN
89.6%
SA M P L E I N G R E D I E N T S
2 oz tequila
½ oz lime juice
Pinch of salt
$8.86
Grapefruit soda
The Paloma isn’t yet very popular in the United
States. That’s a shame. The cocktail is easy-tomake, and its use of grapefruit may improve upon
the common pairing of lime with tequila. Grapefruit
soda is also similar to fruit juice when it comes to
bars’ bottom lines: it provides a distinct flavor that
balances out the liquor in the drink, and is also
relatively cheap by volume. Maybe it really is about
to take the States by storm.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | New Era & Non-IBA Drinks
38
CONCLUSION
Of course, we at BevSpot know that you can’t simply
make a cocktail list out of the most profitable
cocktails featured here and walk away with your head
held high. There is something to be said for creativity
when it comes to cocktailing and developing your
own personal recipes. You also need to obviously
instill some individual character and personality for
your establishment and your bartenders with your
cocktail menu. We created this guidebook with the
hopes of helping you be just a little more strategic
when building out your menus and your individual
cocktail recipes.
The Cocktail Profitability Handbook | Conclusion
Look out for more useful tools and guides coming to
our Resources library in the future as we continue
to develop everything a bartender and bar manager
would need to make their establishments a success,
both creatively and financially.
Data was sourced from BevSpot customers located
in nine metropolitan areas across the continental
United States. Product cost and revenue estimates
represent sales-weighted averages of typical drink
costs and pricing.
39
New to BevSpot? Welcome!
Did the results from this guidebook surprise you at all? How do
your cocktails' pour costs compare to our results? Perhaps some
of this information has made you consider making changes to
your own menu.
While you're mulling that over, have you also thought about making
your backend practices more business effective as well? We’re
passionate about using actual inventory, ordering, and sales data
to unlock the best business decisions for bars and restaurants
everywhere. With a more efficient inventory system in place and a
firm grasp of their numbers, our users can focus on what matters
the most: providing the best possible experience to their guests.
We work with our users to understand how their pour costs stack up
to the rest of the industry, find the ideal sitting inventory for their
establishment, and set their drinks to the most profitable prices.
The results speak for themselves.
If you’re ready to bring your beverage program to the next level,
we’re here to help. Check out our growing library of free tools and
see what our software can do to get you to where you want to be.
TRENDS