Update: Since there seems to be some confusion among non-bartender types, this spreadsheet is only for pricing out individual bottle shots. If you’re looking to price out a whole cocktail, please refer to this post for the appropriate spreadsheet.
Hey guys
Jimmy from Florida just wrote in for the VFW hall he’s managing (I’m a sucker for helping out anyone working at a VFW hall, my second bartending job was at the VFW in Eugene, Oregon) and asked if he could use my How to Price a Cocktail Menu spreadsheet to price out shots from individual bottles.
Definitely, but it would be much easier if I just provided you all with a spreadsheet dedicated to just that one task.
So without any fanfare or a long explanation, here’s the file:
If you have any questions feel free to post them in the comments below!
Question, for your spreadsheet are you using retail bottle prices or your actual bottle cost? Perhaps it’s a silly question but the prices on the spreadsheet appear to be retail.
You can obviously put in whatever prices you’re paying. Here in Oregon, operators pay 95% of retail price. But again, those numbers are placeholders and are not important.
It shows in the formula you’re multipling by 33. something. Is this supposed to be the OZ per bottle? For a 750 shouldnt it be 25? Thanks!
It’s ounces per liter. Then a 750 becomes .75 of a liter, a liter is 1, and a “half gallon” is a 1.75 liter. Hope that makes sense.
I just joined a VFW in Omaha, NE last week. I would kill if you were behind the bar making cocktails. None-the-less, I’m glad I joined and hoping to give back to the veteran community that gave me so much!
Well this was 20 years ago so I think we missed our window my friend 😂
I really appreciate the response! Enjoy the weekend! Ill check this out.
Dude! Thank you!!! This is awesome, and as always thanks for always sharing info! In terms of pricing cocktails with multiple components, i.e. bitters, citrus, base spirit, modifier, etc., what’s the best way to price a cocktail? Do you have a spreadsheet that you use to calculate what the cocktail costs and that determines the price that would be appropriate to charge based on target pour cost? What’s the best way to price a cocktail with multiple ingredients?
Joey I am so glad you asked. Yes, I have all sorts of spreadsheets on this blog, feel free to dig around! But the one you’re asking for is located right here. Enjoy!
Looks like dividing by 3 with extra steps 😉
That’s one way to think about it, I suppose. Not all bottles are 750 ml, so that’s customizable. Target pour cost is program-dependent, so that’s customizable. Not all shot pours in all bars are 2 oz, so that’s customizable.
Those are just a few of the reasons why we use spreadsheets instead of oversimplifying a complex bar program down to “divide by 3 with extra steps”
This is interesting. You use “Target Pour Cost” which is essentially an inverse of your cost-price markup. The way I see it is that you are specifying the yield of the bottle at which you would breakeven. How is it useful to structure the metric that way? Though, at least in terms of underlying reasoning, it seems to me to be about as clear to do that as it would to say, “I do about a 4x cost markup.” Perhaps you’ve left me yearning for that long explanation you eluded to.
Here’s a link to a primer on what pour cost is and why we use it. Hope that helps.
Awesome. Thanks!
Is there a reason the target pour cost varies per bottle??
Oh! Yes, I hand adjust sometimes when I think a pour is coming in too low or too high. Sometimes the computer wants me to charge $16 for a whiskey that nobody is going to pay more than $10 for. And other times it’s telling me to price our well liquor at $3 a pour and that won’t work either.
I’ll probably go in and change the target pour cost to a fixed percentage. Thanks for the reminder.
You are my hero!
Hahaha well thank you. I appreciate it.