Calculator
Drink Calculator: How Many Drinks for Your Party
Enter your guest count, the party length and your crowd's drink mix. The calculator gives you a shopping list for beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks, water and ice.
Drink Calculator
Enter your party details to get exact drink quantities.
Results
🍺 🍷 🍸 🥤 +10% · 🍷 5 × 150 ml = 0.75 L · 🍸 40 ml + 160 ml
How the drink calculator works
Per guest who drinks alcohol, the calculator plans 1.25 drinks in the first hour, 0.75 per hour in hours two to five and 0.35 per hour after that, up to ten hours. People drink most at the start, so the amount does not grow in a straight line with the party length. The alcoholic drinks are then split by your mix: mixed 45% beer, 35% wine, 20% cocktails; beer crowd 65/20/15; wine crowd 20/65/15.
Soft drinks for everyone, more for non-drinkers
Every guest gets half a soft drink as a baseline. Guests who don't drink alcohol get a full alternative on top: 0.7 drinks plus 0.35 per hour. Beer, wine, cocktails and soft drinks all include a 10% buffer, so you don't need to add extra yourself.
Servings, bottles, water and ice
Beer is counted in 330 ml bottles, wine in 150 ml glasses (5 per 0.75 L bottle), and a cocktail uses 40 ml of spirits (about 17 per 0.7 L bottle) plus 160 ml of mixer. Water is 0.5 L per guest plus 0.125 L per hour for the first six hours, then 0.075 L per hour. Ice is 0.35 kg per guest, or 0.45 kg if cocktails make up more than a quarter of the alcoholic drinks.
Example: 20 guests, 4 hours
With a mixed crowd and 5 of 20 guests not drinking alcohol, the calculator suggests 27 beers, 5 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of spirits for 12 cocktails, 23 soft drinks, 20 L of water and 7 kg of ice.
FAQ
- How many drinks per person should I plan for a 4-hour party?
- About 3.9 alcoholic drinks per guest who drinks (3.5 plus the 10% buffer), half a soft drink for every guest, about 3 soft drinks per guest who doesn't drink alcohol, and 1 L of water per guest.
- Why doesn't the amount double when the party lasts twice as long?
- Most drinking happens early. After the first hour the calculator plans 0.75 drinks per hour, and from hour six only 0.35 — longer parties need more water and soft drinks rather than much more alcohol.
- Is a buffer already included?
- Yes. Beer, wine, cocktails and soft drinks include 10%. Add extra water and soft drinks on hot days.