Beverage cost / pour cost calculator India

What is pour cost and why it matters for Indian restaurants

Pour cost (also called beverage cost or bar cost percentage) is the ratio of what the beverages cost to buy versus what you sold them for. It is the bar equivalent of food cost percentage. A well-run Indian restaurant bar typically runs at 20–30% overall pour cost — meaning for every ₹100 of bar revenue, ₹20–30 was spent buying the beverages.

The consumption method is the standard way to measure actual pour cost: pour cost cost = (opening stock + purchases − closing stock) ÷ revenue × 100. This accounts for beginning inventory, what was bought during the period, and what is left over — giving you what was actually consumed during the period at cost price, divided by the revenue it generated.

Why pour cost runs high in Indian bars

• Free pours. Bartenders who free-pour (no jigger) consistently over-pour by 15–30%. A standard peg in India is 30ml or 60ml; a casual pour is often 45ml or 75ml. At ₹500/bottle, even a 15ml over-pour per drink adds ₹12.50 of cost per serve. On 100 serves a day, that is ₹1,250 of daily over-pour — ₹37,500/month.
• Spillage and breakage not tracked. Every bottle dropped, every cocktail spilled, and every complimentary poured without a record raises pour cost without raising revenue. Most bars have no spillage log — the pour cost variance is the first signal that this is happening.
• Staff theft and side pouring. Underpoured customer drinks, cash pocketed without ringing the sale, and bottles taken home are the hardest to detect without regular spot audits. A bar category that consistently shows 5–8% above standard pour cost despite controlled operations is a theft signal.
• Incorrect closing stock count. Deliberately over-stating closing stock (rounding up bottles) reduces apparent consumption and understates pour cost — masking the real picture. Closing stock should be counted to the nearest 10ml, not rounded to the nearest bottle.
• Happy hour and promotional pricing without recipe adjustment. If standard pour cost is calculated at regular prices but revenue is captured at happy-hour (50% off) pricing, the pour cost will appear to spike during promotion periods even though volume is controlled. Adjust standard pour cost during promotional periods.

Setting your standard pour cost

The standard pour cost is what pour cost should be if every drink were made exactly to recipe at the standard price. Calculate it from your recipe cards:

1. For each drink, compute: cost of ingredients ÷ selling price × 100.
2. Weight each drink by volume sold in the month.
3. The weighted average is your standard pour cost for the period.

As a starting point, use these Indian bar benchmarks: spirits 18–22%, beer 22–28%, wine 25–32%, non-alcoholic 15–20%. Premium spirits with high sell-out rates can achieve lower pour costs; draught beer typically runs higher than bottled beer.

Where this fits

• Food cost calculator — pour cost is the bar equivalent of food cost; combine both to get your total cost of goods sold (COGS) %
• Recipe cost card — the standard pour cost for each cocktail comes from the recipe cost card; build cards for every bar recipe to set accurate targets
• Inventory count — the opening and closing stock values come from physical bar inventory counts; accuracy here drives the accuracy of the pour cost calculation
• Bar stock register (daily) — daily liquor log tracks opening and closing by bottle; the monthly totals feed into this beverage cost tracker
• Prime cost calculator — prime cost = food cost + beverage cost + labour cost; this tracker gives you the beverage slice
• P6 — Unit economics pillar — complete guide to restaurant unit economics in India: food cost, beverage cost, labour cost, prime cost, and contribution margin