Pour cost is the percentage of a drink's revenue that goes to the ingredients used to make it. Calculated by dividing ingredient cost by menu price and multiplying by 100. Most bars target a pour cost between 18-24%.
Pour cost is the most fundamental metric in bar management. A pour cost of 20% means for every $10 cocktail sold, $2 goes to ingredients. The remaining $8 covers labor, overhead, and profit.
But most bars calculate pour cost wrong. They use the as-purchased ingredient price without accounting for yield loss (a lime yields about 1oz of juice, not the whole lime), prep waste (simple syrup loses volume to evaporation), and free-pour variance (bartenders consistently overpour by 10-20% without jiggers).
The real pour cost is almost always higher than operators think. A Margarita that 'costs $2.40' might actually cost $3.85 when you account for these factors.
methodus calculates true pour cost automatically when you add ingredient prices to your specs. It accounts for AP-to-EP yield conversion — so the cost you see is the real cost, not the textbook estimate. Every spec shows the actual margin.
As Purchased vs Edible Portion — the cost difference between what you buy and what you use.
Total beverage cost divided by total beverage revenue.
Calculating the true cost of every ingredient in a dish or drink.
Measuring usable product after prep loss and waste.
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