Beverages

Bottles of Hard Liquor used for mixed drinks typically serve 16-20 shots or pours (1.5 ounces).  

• In general, companies want to a return of 4-8x their cost of liquor to generate profit for the business

• Standard bottles, may cost $16 wholesale ($16 x 8 = $128/bottle).  If a bottle is more coveted or rare, you may see businesses asking for $50-$150 a pour.

• A typical bottle of liquor you see behind the bar is about 750 ML or 25 ounces or 16 pours

• This is why it is important to have trustworthy bartenders who pour responsibly (do not over pour or give extra to friends)

Depending on the location, drinks may cost $6 to $15 per drink at your local bar down the street or at a nice restaurant. 

• At higher end locations, clubs, bars in hotels or popular locations, or resorts drinks can range from $10-30.

  • • 16 pours x $6 = $96 revenue; Profit of $80 ($96 - $16; 5x their cost) 

    • 16 pours x $15 = $240; Profit of $224 ($240 - $16; 14x their cost)         

Mixed Drinks

• In order to stretch the alcohol and increase profitability, bars create cocktails or mixed drink specials to match foods, moods, or tastes. 

• Many businesses become popular for drinks or even hold events to create new drinks and drive in business; this is referred to Mixology

• These drinks often include other things like water, soda, juice, fruit, mixes, sugar, smoke, or ice to make frozen drinks (Pina coladas, daquiris). This allows people to drink more alcohol by masking the taste with sweetness. 

• Another component of creating mixed drinks is uniqueness and how the sugars often encourage your appetite to drink more or order more food; this is similar to why businesses offer bread at the beginning of meals. 

Club Scene

• In the club scene, bottle service is often offered as a way to gain...

  • • a seating area that is secluded/private from everyone else at the club (most clubs offer no seating)

    • skip the line outside to get into the club; and skip paying entry fees

• Bottle service 

  • • At local clubs will start at $100 for a bottle, but have probably gone up since my time there (00's-10's)

    • In Las Vegas or high end cities, you would be fortunate to find a service for $500/bottle as the exclusive ones that cater to celebrities or those with money can easily get into several thousand dollars. I have heard of really exclusive places that will sell you two bottles (750 ML each that cost $20 / each or $40) and a place to sit down for $10,000.

    • The service includes a bottle, any mixers you need, and a waitress to mix drinks/serve the table and get you additional food or drinks

While more money can be made from hard liquor, beers are a close second

• For many businesses, beer by the bottle will have a 2x-6x markup; 

• Draft Beer (From the tap is typically 40-50% cheaper than bottled beer) but does have other overhead costs such as maintenance and cleaning of taps and CO2, nitrogen, line cleaning, and of course keg change outs.

• $6-15 for a 6-pack at the store

• At many local bars beers can range from $3-7 per beer. High end establishments do not stray to far from this price range, but are often around $8-15.

• For specialty craft beers that are made in smaller batches or where costs are higher you may find that the prices are almost double. Some bars feature various beers by different regions, type, or by brewery.

Wine used to be great on margins. Often associated with sophistication, artistry, and prestige, wine has lost some edge in mark-ups/ROI due to ease of access in pricing using your phones internet.

• Typically 2-4x mark up; unless rare or highly coveted

• Wine pours (5 ounces); typically 5 glasses per bottle

• Some restaurants will only sell certain wines by the bottle; this avoids having unfinished bottles going to waste/spoiling

• Other restaurants that move high volumes of wine

Prior to the advent of the smart phone and internet, markups on wine were approximately 4x the wholesale; now it is closer to 1.5x to 2x depending on the wholesale.  Individual pours, much like hard liquor, cost more per glass due to the shelf life of wine once open. 

Wine Flights (2-3 ounces per glass – used to entice interest)

Restaurants often create flights of the various wines on hand to move more wine through the business and can also be quite profitable.  The intent is to interest guests to buy another glass of their favorite flight; in some circumstances bottle. On the other hand, it can also help to move previously opened bottles that have not yet been finished.

• You may order flights by a single glass or in many cases an assortment based upon taste is brought out (3-4 glasses; in some cases 6 or more may be brought).  Flights range in price, but often range from $10-$25. 

• This can also be a way of pairing your meal with different wines rather than selecting a single glass.

• At fine dining establishments, they may also have a Wine Pairing (Usually for Set or Pre Fixed Meals) that matches the food being served.

• You can also find this with whiskey/scotch in specialty bars 

Wine Pairings

The idea of wine pairings is having a wine expert, sommelier, to match wines specifically to each course, dish, being served.  The idea of pairing wines is to accentuate the flavor of the food. 

In many cases, having an expert to pair the wines it is often viewed as an honor, prices for the pairings may not reflect the same prices as a glass of each wine individually.  They often are priced higher as a promotion versus itemized out separately. 

Wine pairings allow the restaurant to move through the same bottles of wine rather than leaving multiple bottles open; which can change the composition of the taste over time if not consumed within a day.

• Individual glasses of wine may be $15, $20, $25, $20 = $80

• Wine Pairings may be a $125 charge for the same wines

• For Pre-Fixe meals at fine dining establishments this may include a pairing for every course that comes out 

• For Pre-Fixe meals that feature 3-4 course, you will get 3-4 wines

• Unlike ordering individual glasses of wine (5 ounce pours), you may often receive flights (3 ounces) since you have several courses and wines to finish.

• I have personally been to an experience that featured 8-10 offerings of small bites, not counting amuse bouche, and featured flights of 6-8 wine pairs. Needless to say, I did not finish each of my glasses or all of the courses as it totaled to 13 various courses over 3.5 - 4 hours.