Two drinks in hour one, one per hour after.
Your bar
| Item | You need | Buy |
|---|
Don't forget
Worked example
Here is a complete answer with the calculator's default settings, so you can sanity-check the numbers without touching anything — Guests: 30 · Party length (hours): 4 · Pour per cocktail: 44 ml / 1.5 oz — single shot · Share choosing cocktails: 25% — full bar (wine & beer too).
Result: 38 cocktails · 30 guests · 4h · 150 drinks total
| ITEM | YOU NEED | BUY |
|---|---|---|
| Spirits — 44 ml per cocktail · ~17 per bottle | 1.7 L | 3 bottles |
| Split across 3 spirits — vodka, gin, whiskey, rum, tequila | — | 1 each |
| Mixers — soda, tonic, juice · 1 L per 8–10 drinks | 5 L | 5 bottles |
| Ice — serving + chilling | 21 kg | 11 bags |
Also needed
- Lemons & limes12 of each
- Glasses (1.5 per guest)45
- Non-alcoholic servings120
- Water per guest1600 ml
- Bitters, syrup, garnish1 set per spirit
Change the inputs above and every figure recalculates.
How the numbers work
Every caterer uses the same formula: 2 drinks in the first hour, 1 per hour after. Written out, that is drinks = guests × (hours + 1). A 30-person party running 4 hours needs 150 drinks — but not 150 cocktails, because at a full bar only about a quarter of guests reach for spirits. Wine takes roughly half, beer the rest.
Then it is a division problem. A 750 ml bottle holds 25.4 oz, so at a 1.5 oz shot it pours 16–17 drinks, and at a 2 oz cocktail pour it pours 12. That gap is the single biggest reason published bar guides disagree with each other — they are quietly assuming different pours. Pick yours above.
Most people underbuy two things badly: mixers and ice. Budget about a litre of mixer for every 8–10 mixed drinks, and 1.5 lb (0.7 kg) of ice per guest — 2 lb if it is warm or the bar is cocktail-heavy. Ice is the most common thing to run out of at a party and the most annoying to fix mid-event.
How many cocktails does a bottle make?
Twelve at a 2 oz pour, sixteen or seventeen at a 1.5 oz shot, and about thirty from a 1.75 L handle at 2 oz. If a recipe uses two spirits, count it against both bottles.
What if I'm only serving one signature cocktail?
Set the spirit count to 2 and the cocktail share to 100%. A single-cocktail bar is far easier to stock and much faster to serve, and it is what most experienced hosts do — a full back bar mostly generates leftovers.
How much should I budget for non-drinkers?
Plan one non-alcoholic serving per guest per hour regardless of what else you pour, plus 12–16 oz of water per guest per hour. See the non-alcoholic guide — a third of your guests will want these.
What can I batch ahead?
Spirits, juices and syrups batch beautifully. Anything carbonated does not. Mix the spirit base a day ahead, chill it, and add soda or sparkling wine at the moment of pouring — the batching guide has the dilution maths.