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Party Drink Calculator
Buy the right amount of alcohol for your party. Enter the number of guests who drink, how long the party lasts and roughly how they split between beer, wine and cocktails. You get a shopping list: beers, bottles of wine, bottles of liquor and pounds of ice.
- Beers (12 oz)
- 50
- Wine bottles (750 mL)
- 6
- Liquor bottles (750 mL)
- 2
- Ice
- 20 lb
Saved setups
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Your recent calculations
Results you calculate here are kept on this device so you can come back to them.
Formula
How to use it
- Enter the number of guests who will drink alcohol.
- Enter how many hours the party will run.
- Set the shares for beer, wine and cocktails to suit your crowd.
- Read the quantities to buy, and round up to the next case if you can return unopened bottles.
Worked examples
Twenty guests for four hours, half drinking beer, 30% wine and 20% cocktails
- Total drinks
- 100
- Beers (12 oz)
- 50
- Wine bottles (750 mL)
- 6
- Liquor bottles (750 mL)
- 2
- Ice
- 20 lb
Fifty guests for three hours, 40% beer, 40% wine and 20% cocktails
- Total drinks
- 200
- Beers (12 oz)
- 80
- Wine bottles (750 mL)
- 16
- Liquor bottles (750 mL)
- 3
- Ice
- 50 lb
The numbers behind it
A standard drink is a 12 oz beer, a 5 oz glass of wine or a 1.5 oz shot of spirits. A 750 mL bottle of wine pours five glasses, and a 750 mL bottle of liquor makes about 16 drinks. A case of wine is 12 bottles, or 60 glasses. A half-barrel keg holds 15.5 gallons, about 165 twelve-ounce beers.
The planning rule of two drinks per guest in the first hour and one each hour after is a deliberately generous average: some guests will have one drink all night and a few will have more.
Adjusting for your party
Daytime events, weeknights and parties with a full meal run lighter; evening receptions and warm weather run heavier. If you are serving only beer and wine, set the cocktail share to zero — a 50/50 split is a common starting point, tilted toward wine for dinner parties.
For cocktails, plan about a liter of mixer for every three guests, and budget extra ice if you are also chilling bottles: a pound per guest covers drinks only. Always provide water and soft drinks, and make sure guests have a safe way home.
Questions people ask
How many drinks should I plan per person?
Two in the first hour and one for each hour after that. For a four-hour party that is five drinks per drinking guest.
How many bottles of wine do I need for 50 guests?
If everyone drinks only wine for three hours, 200 glasses or 40 bottles. If 40% of guests drink wine, 80 glasses or 16 bottles.
How many drinks are in a bottle of liquor?
About 16 from a 750 mL bottle at 1.5 oz per drink, and about 22 from a 1-liter bottle.
How much ice do I need for a party?
About one pound per guest for drinks, and up to twice that if you are also filling coolers to chill bottles and cans.