How much alcohol do you actually need?
Stop guessing (and stop overbuying). Tell us your guest count, how long the party runs and what you're celebrating — we'll build your exact shopping list of beer, wine and spirits, plus an estimated cost. Free, no email required to see your numbers.
Running a home bar is mostly math: about 1 drink per guest in the first hour and roughly 1 drink per hour after that, with around 85% of people actually drinking. One case of beer is 24, a bottle of wine pours about 5 glasses, and a 750ml of liquor makes roughly a dozen cocktails. This calculator runs those numbers for you and splits everything across beer, wine and cocktails based on your kind of event.
Your event
Estimates only — adjust to taste; we'll fine-tune the exact list with you. The Salt Rim is BYOB; you buy the alcohol (a separate purchase from any liquor store or delivery service). We just do the math.
That's the easy part. Now — who's going to mix, pour, garnish, set it all up, and clean up after? That's us.
Get my bar quote →Want us to handle the whole bar so you never think about this?
We bring the bar, the bartender, the cocktails and the setup — you just supply the bottles (we'll even hand you this exact list). Premium mobile bar, Orange County.
Alcohol calculator FAQ
How much alcohol do I need per person for a party?
Plan on about 1 drink per guest in the first hour and roughly 1 drink per hour after that. For a typical 4-hour party that's around 4–5 drinks per drinking guest. Assume about 85% of your guests will actually drink, then split those drinks across beer, wine and cocktails to match your crowd. The calculator above does all of this automatically.
How much beer do I need per person?
Roughly 1 beer per beer-drinker per hour. A standard case holds 24 cans or bottles. So a 4-hour event with about 40 beer drinkers needs ~160 beers — call it 7 cases. Buy a little extra; most stores will take back what you don't open.
How much wine do I need for 100 guests?
One 750ml bottle of wine pours about 5 glasses. For 100 guests over 4 hours where wine is a major share of the drinks, you'll typically want 30–45 bottles, leaning toward more whites and a few bubbles for toasts at weddings. Enter 100 guests above to see the exact split for your event.
How many bottles of liquor do I need for cocktails?
Each cocktail uses about 2 oz of spirit, and a 750ml bottle holds about 25 oz — so one bottle makes roughly 12 cocktails. Count the cocktails you expect, multiply by 2 oz, and divide by 25 to get bottles per spirit. The calculator splits your cocktail drinks across the right spirits for you.
Do I need to buy ice, mixers, or garnish?
If you book The Salt Rim — no. We bring the ice, mixers, juices, garnish, and all the tools. You just buy the alcohol on the list above. Going fully DIY instead? Plan about 1.5 lbs of ice per guest and buy it the day of (it melts fast).