Every drop of premium spirit and every garnish counts. Stop eyeballing estimates and take control of your menu’s liquid profitability with recipe costing that recalculates margins when gin prices rise or you change the glass.
Free forever No credit card Your recipe book in an afternoon
Spec sheet · dynamic
Premium French 75 Cocktail
Cost / serving: €3.27
€3.27Cocktail costing is the breakdown of the exact cost of every ingredient in a drink, from the base spirit to the citrus wheel or the ice. A bar that doesn't cost its menu is losing between 12% and 20% of its revenue through overpouring, unstandardized recipes, and drinks whose real cost exceeds the menu price. With a premium gin bottle at €35, every poorly measured milliliter is margin evaporating.
Digitizing your costing lets you set each cocktail's selling price with a target food cost of 18–22%, simulate the impact of switching spirits or suppliers, and spot which drinks are actually profitable. In cocktail bars, where ice, garnish, and bottle waste can add a hidden 5% to costs, having live data in the shaker is the difference between a bar that makes money and one that just moves volume.
Calculate the cost per serving of each signature cocktail and control your bar's food cost with dynamic recipe costing. Spec sheets with allergens and cocktail recipe scaling.
Is your cocktail served in a coupe, highball or Nick & Nora? Enter the glass and its capacity in the spec sheet. The recipe costing recalculates the exact cost of the liquid portion and garnishes, adjusting the selling price based on serving size.
From a lemon twist to a premium olive skewer: every decoration adds up. Assign a cost to twists, absinthe sprays and designer ice, and discover how they impact your bottom line.
Turn the ratios of a single Negroni into a 30‑liter batch for an event without errors. Production scaling instantly gives you the shopping list and total cost, keeping the drink's consistency and your margin intact.
Define the exact formula for each cocktail: 50 ml gin, 20 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice, 15 ml sugar syrup, 2 dashes of Angostura. Without a locked-down recipe, costing is impossible. Always use jiggers to ensure what you serve matches the costing.
Divide the bottle price (tax included) by its net milliliters. A 700 ml bottle of gin that costs €28 has a cost of €0.04/ml. For liqueurs used in tiny amounts, this math is even more crucial: Chartreuse at €45 per 700 ml bottle costs €0.064/ml.
In cocktail bars, the average waste per open bottle (evaporation, drips, the last unusable pour) is 3–5%. For freshly squeezed citrus juices, pulp and straining waste can reach 15%. Add this percentage to the ingredient cost to get a real cost.
Ice isn't free: a 5 kg bag costs €1.50 and one cocktail can hold 150 g of ice (€0.045). A citrus wheel (€0.08–0.12), an olive (€0.10), or a straw (€0.03) all add up. If you use branded balloon glasses, allocate a depreciation cost per use.
If the total cocktail cost is €1.85 and your target food cost is 20%, the selling price excluding VAT should be €9.25. Apply 10% VAT to get the menu price: €10.18. Round to €10.50 or €10.90 depending on your psychological pricing strategy.
Costing for a Dry Martini served in a pre-chilled cocktail glass, with London Dry gin, dry vermouth, and an olive. Horeca Spain cost prices, June 2026.
| Ingredient | Quantity | Waste | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium London Dry gin (700 ml) | 60 ml | 4% | €2.50 |
| Dry vermouth (1 L) | 10 ml | 3% | €0.09 |
| Gordal olive with anchovy (unit) | 1 pc. | 0% | €0.12 |
| Mixing ice (large cube) | 200 g | 5% | €0.06 |
| Lemon peel (twist) | 1 pc. | 10% | €0.05 |
| Cocktail glass (depreciation per use) | 1 pc. | 0% | €0.08 |
| Bar napkin | 1 pc. | 0% | €0.02 |
| Direct labor (2 min) | 0.033 h | 0% | €0.50 |
Total cost
€3.42
Food cost
19.5%
Suggested price
€17.50 (VAT incl.)
Margin
€14.08 per drink
If you swap the London Dry gin for a craft gin at €42 per bottle, the cost rises to €4.02 and food cost jumps to 23%. To keep the margin, you'd need to raise the selling price to €20.50 or adjust the pour to 50 ml.
18-22%
Recommended target food cost for craft cocktail bars and lounges
industry reports
3-5%
Average waste per open spirit bottle (evaporation, drips, unserviceable bottom)
Spanish market data
15%
Average waste in freshly squeezed citrus juices (pulp, straining, and oxidation)
Spanish market data
€0.30–0.60
Average garnish and glassware cost per cocktail served at the bar
industry reports
Cocktail bars
A cocktail bar can go through 50–80 kg of ice in a night. At €0.30/kg, that's €24 vanishing from your bottom line because it wasn't costed. And high-end cocktail ice (large, clear cubes) costs twice as much as standard bagged ice.
Out of a 700 ml bottle, the last 15–20 ml never get served because they carry cork or pourer impurities. If you don't account for that 3% waste, you're artificially inflating the margin on the first 35 drinks and losing money on the last ones.
A liqueur you used to buy in 1 L bottles at €22 now comes in 700 ml at €18. Its cost per milliliter went from €0.022 to €0.026—an 18% hike. If you keep the same selling price, your food cost has ballooned without you even noticing.
A house ginger syrup requires sugar, fresh ginger, water, and cooking time. Its cost can be €0.15 per portion. If you leave it out of the costing, you're giving away the very ingredient that sets your Moscow Mule apart from any other bar.
Every cocktail family has a different cost structure. These are the key costings to control your bar's profitability:
Dominated by the base spirit cost (60–80% of the total). Bottle waste and garnish are the critical points to watch.
Includes house-made syrups, infusions, and foams with high waste. The prep labor (mise en place) must be charged as an added cost per glass.
The food cost is often lower (10–15%), but so is the menu price. The challenge is finding the balance so the gross margin in euros is attractive, not just the percentage.
The proportion of ice and garnish is not linear compared to a single glass. A 1 L pitcher of Sangria uses proportionally less ice than four 250 ml glasses, which improves the margin.
Here the bottle cost is everything. A premium gin & tonic with craft tonic and botanicals can have a garnish cost higher than the tonic itself—something that will surprise you if you don't cost it out.
Chefs, pastry chefs, bartenders, baristas and chocolatiers who swapped spreadsheets and notebooks for Miselup.
Carlos Mendoza
Owner · La Mesa Restaurant
“Every recipe change used to be a mess. With Miselup, if I bump the sirloin by 20 g, I see the real cost instantly. It's amazing—I no longer lose margin without noticing. Now costing is quick and safe, no calculator needed.”
Diego Valdés
Head Bartender · Nébula Bar
“My team sees the production sheet without any cost breakdown. That way they measure every cocktail precisely—no more over- or under-pouring. The recipe stays clear, and the numbers stay for my eyes only.”
Mateo Herrera
Owner · Café Origen
“Swap whole milk for oat milk and Miselup updates allergens on the menu automatically. Every new season with sandwiches and pastries used to be a nightmare. Now my digital menu is always up to date and my celiac customers are grateful.”
Carlos Mendoza
Owner · La Mesa Restaurant
“Every recipe change used to be a mess. With Miselup, if I bump the sirloin by 20 g, I see the real cost instantly. It's amazing—I no longer lose margin without noticing. Now costing is quick and safe, no calculator needed.”
Diego Valdés
Head Bartender · Nébula Bar
“My team sees the production sheet without any cost breakdown. That way they measure every cocktail precisely—no more over- or under-pouring. The recipe stays clear, and the numbers stay for my eyes only.”
Mateo Herrera
Owner · Café Origen
“Swap whole milk for oat milk and Miselup updates allergens on the menu automatically. Every new season with sandwiches and pastries used to be a nightmare. Now my digital menu is always up to date and my celiac customers are grateful.”
Carlos Mendoza
Owner · La Mesa Restaurant
“Every recipe change used to be a mess. With Miselup, if I bump the sirloin by 20 g, I see the real cost instantly. It's amazing—I no longer lose margin without noticing. Now costing is quick and safe, no calculator needed.”
Diego Valdés
Head Bartender · Nébula Bar
“My team sees the production sheet without any cost breakdown. That way they measure every cocktail precisely—no more over- or under-pouring. The recipe stays clear, and the numbers stay for my eyes only.”
Mateo Herrera
Owner · Café Origen
“Swap whole milk for oat milk and Miselup updates allergens on the menu automatically. Every new season with sandwiches and pastries used to be a nightmare. Now my digital menu is always up to date and my celiac customers are grateful.”
Lucía Ramírez
Pastry Chef · Dulce Masa Bakery
“I always jot down recipes in my test notebook. I snap a photo with Miselup, and the AI turns that page into a technical sheet with exact ingredients and weights. It's magic—saves me hours of copying data and eliminates errors completely.”
Ana Solís
Catering Director · Sol y Sombra Events
“For each wedding menu, I instantly see if the proposal is green or red. The margin traffic light tells me if I'm over cost before sending the quote. I negotiate with data, not blind. And I sleep easy once every event is locked in.”
Isabel Vega
Artisan Chocolatier · Bombones Amargo
“For a big order of 300 boxes, I enter the base recipe for 10 chocolates and Miselup scales everything: grams, time, cost. No neurotic math. From small workshop to large order, the scaling is spot on and I don't waste a single gram of cocoa.”
Lucía Ramírez
Pastry Chef · Dulce Masa Bakery
“I always jot down recipes in my test notebook. I snap a photo with Miselup, and the AI turns that page into a technical sheet with exact ingredients and weights. It's magic—saves me hours of copying data and eliminates errors completely.”
Ana Solís
Catering Director · Sol y Sombra Events
“For each wedding menu, I instantly see if the proposal is green or red. The margin traffic light tells me if I'm over cost before sending the quote. I negotiate with data, not blind. And I sleep easy once every event is locked in.”
Isabel Vega
Artisan Chocolatier · Bombones Amargo
“For a big order of 300 boxes, I enter the base recipe for 10 chocolates and Miselup scales everything: grams, time, cost. No neurotic math. From small workshop to large order, the scaling is spot on and I don't waste a single gram of cocoa.”
Lucía Ramírez
Pastry Chef · Dulce Masa Bakery
“I always jot down recipes in my test notebook. I snap a photo with Miselup, and the AI turns that page into a technical sheet with exact ingredients and weights. It's magic—saves me hours of copying data and eliminates errors completely.”
Ana Solís
Catering Director · Sol y Sombra Events
“For each wedding menu, I instantly see if the proposal is green or red. The margin traffic light tells me if I'm over cost before sending the quote. I negotiate with data, not blind. And I sleep easy once every event is locked in.”
Isabel Vega
Artisan Chocolatier · Bombones Amargo
“For a big order of 300 boxes, I enter the base recipe for 10 chocolates and Miselup scales everything: grams, time, cost. No neurotic math. From small workshop to large order, the scaling is spot on and I don't waste a single gram of cocoa.”
Cocktail bars
John Guerrero
Gastronomy consultant · Founder of ChefBusiness and Miselup
15+ years advising restaurants, bakeries and hospitality businesses across Spain and Latam. Creator of ChefBusiness, AI Chef Pro and Miselup: the digital mise en place his clients use to control food cost to the cent.
Set up your recipe book in an afternoon and try Free forever. No credit card, no commitment.