A cocktail recipe card is the written record of how a drink is made and what it costs. Most bars have some version of it: a laminated sheet behind the bar, a page in a binder, a note on a phone. The problem is that many cards only describe the drink. They do not cost it. This article gives you a cocktail recipe card template that does both, field by field, and a filled example.
The example comes from the CostFlow engine, using a fictitious bar with fictitious purchase prices, in Brazilian reais; the math is the same in any currency.
Why the recipe card is where cost starts
Every cost number on a menu depends on one thing: knowing what goes into the glass. Without a written spec, the cost of a drink is whatever the bartender on shift decides to pour. You cannot price that, and you cannot check it.
A good card does three jobs at once:
- Consistency. The guest gets the same drink on Monday and on Saturday.
- Training. A new bartender learns the drink from the card, not from memory passed along at the bar.
- Cost. The card is the basis for the theoretical cost of the drink, and so for its pour cost and its price.
The third job is the one most cards skip. A card with pours but no prices tells you how to make the drink, not whether it pays.
What a cocktail recipe card template must include
Split the card into four blocks.
1. Identification
- Drink name and menu category (for example, stirred, long drink, shaken).
- Glass, method and garnish, in words.
- Date of the last review of the card.
2. Recipe lines
One line per ingredient, with:
- the ingredient, named the way it appears on your purchase invoices;
- the pour, as a number;
- the unit (ml, g or each).
Garnish and ice get their own lines. They are part of the drink, and they cost money.
3. Cost lines
For each recipe line:
- the package size you buy (750 ml, 1 l, 1 kg, each);
- the price you pay for that package;
- the line cost, calculated as pour × package price ÷ package size, rounded to the cent per line.
Below the lines: the ingredient total, a waste allowance (a percentage of the ingredients, not of the ice), the ice line and the total cost of the drink. The calculation is explained step by step in how to calculate cocktail pour cost.
4. Price and pour cost
- Menu price.
- Pour cost = total cost ÷ menu price.
- Target pour cost for the category.
- Suggested price = total cost ÷ target.
The last two fields turn the card into a pricing tool. They show, on the same sheet, whether the drink sits above or below the target.
The template
Copy this into a spreadsheet or a document. One card per drink.
| Ingredient | Pour | Unit | Package size | Package price | Line cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garnish | |||||
| Ingredients | |||||
| Waste allowance (%) | |||||
| Ice | g | ||||
| Total cost |
| Price and pour cost | Value |
|---|---|
| Menu price | |
| Pour cost (total cost ÷ menu price) | |
| Target pour cost | |
| Suggested price (total cost ÷ target) | |
| Date of last review |
A filled example: the Negroni
Purchase prices in this example: gin 750 ml at 60.00; red bitter 750 ml at 60.00; sweet vermouth 750 ml at 40.00; ice 5 kg at 15.00. Waste allowance: 5%. Target pour cost: 25%.
| Ingredient | Pour | Unit | Package size | Package price | Line cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gin | 30 | ml | 750 ml | 60.00 | 2.40 |
| Red bitter | 30 | ml | 750 ml | 60.00 | 2.40 |
| Sweet vermouth | 30 | ml | 750 ml | 40.00 | 1.60 |
| Orange peel garnish | 1 | each | 0.00 | ||
| Ingredients | 6.40 | ||||
| Waste allowance (5%) | 0.32 | ||||
| Ice | 120 | g | 5 kg | 15.00 | 0.36 |
| Total cost | 7.08 |
| Price and pour cost | Value |
|---|---|
| Menu price | R$ 32.00 |
| Pour cost | 7.08 ÷ 32.00 = 22.13% |
| Target pour cost | 25% |
| Suggested price | 7.08 ÷ 25% = R$ 28.32 |
Read the card from the bottom. At a 25% target, the drink would need to sell for at least 28.32. It sells for 32.00, so its pour cost of 22.13% sits below the target. Whether 32.00 is the right price is a separate question, covered in how to price cocktails.
What this example leaves out
The orange peel is at zero. The example does not cost it, to keep the table short. A real card should: an orange is a purchase like any other, and the cost of the peel can be estimated from how many drinks one orange serves. Leaving a line at zero makes the drink look cheaper than it is.
Common gaps in recipe cards
- No package size next to the price. A price without a size cannot be converted into a cost per ml or per gram.
- Pours written as "a splash" or "top up". If you cannot measure it, you cannot cost it. Give the top-up a number, even an average one.
- Ice and garnish missing. They are the most common blank lines.
- No date. A card without a review date gives no hint that its prices may be old.
- One card for the bar, another for the office. If the bar works from one spec and the cost sheet from another, the numbers will not match. The effect of that gap is explained in theoretical vs actual pour cost.
Keeping the cards up to date
A recipe card is only as good as its last review. Update it when:
- a supplier changes a price;
- you change brand, bottle size or supplier;
- the spec changes, even by a few ml;
- the menu price changes.
Each of these moves the cost or the pour cost. Keep the date field honest, and review the cards that drive the most sales first.
See a costed card in the engine
The Negroni above, along with a Caipirinha and a Gin & tonic, is costed in the CostFlow engine, the tool Ambar uses to work out the cost of every drink from its recipe spec and purchase prices. See the cost and pour cost of each drink on the CostFlow engine page.