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Bar Drinks: Pours and Cocktails

Admin Manager Cashier

Use this page to sell liquor by the shot or glass, add cocktails to your menu, and ring drinks up at the register.

Quick steps​

To turn it on (admin):

  1. Go to Settings > Edit Settings and open the Products & Inventory tab.
  2. Tick Enable Units of Measure (pack / case / pallet) and Enable Bar Drinks.
  3. Click Update Settings.

To set up a bottle:

  1. Open the product (for example "Smirnoff Vodka 750ml") and go to its Inventory tab.
  2. Click Set this up as a liquor bottle (sell by the pour).
  3. Pick the Bottle size (how you receive it) and tick the Pours you serve. Click Set up bottle & pours.
  4. In the Levels table, type a Price for each pour. Pours start at $0. Click Save levels.

To track a mixer by volume (juice, pop, syrup):

  1. Open the mixer's product (for example "Orange Juice 1.89L") and go to its Inventory tab.
  2. Under Track this mixer by volume, pick the Container size (how you receive it), for example 1.89 L Carton.
  3. Click Track by volume.

To add a cocktail:

  1. On the Products page, open More Actions and click Cocktail Library.
  2. On a drink you can make, click Add to menu →.
  3. Check the ingredients and spirit choices, set the Menu price $ and a Category, and click Add to menu.

At the register:

Tap the bottle, pick the pour in Choose a pour, and tap the Add button. Tap a cocktail like any other product and pick the spirit if asked.

Common questions​

I don't see "Set this up as a liquor bottle". Both Enable Units of Measure and Enable Bar Drinks must be on. The link is on the product's Inventory tab, and it's not offered on a single size (variation) of a product, or on a product that's already set up.

A pour rang up at $0. Its price was never set. Open the product, open More Actions at the top and click Bottle & Pours, type the pour's Price and click Save levels.

A cocktail says "Missing" in the library. The library looks for products whose names include each ingredient, such as "Vodka" or "Lime Juice". Add or rename the product, or click Configure anyway to add the drink without it.

Selling a Screwdriver took whole cartons of orange juice off the shelf. The juice is counted by the carton, so the recipe's 4 oz took 4 cartons. Track the juice by volume (see the steps above). After that, each drink takes only the ounces its recipe pours. A mixer you haven't set up keeps being counted by the unit.

Can a pour go on a tab? Yes. Open the tab, tap Add Item, then tap the bottle and pick the pour. The tab shows it as, for example, "Vodka 750ml — Shot (1.5 oz) × 2".

More detail: how bottles and pours work

How It Works​

A bottle is tracked in ounces. When you receive a bottle, its ounces are added to stock. Each pour you sell takes its own ounces off, so a 750ml bottle (25.36 oz) holds about 16 shots of 1.5 oz.

You receive stock by the bottle and sell it by the pour. Both draw on the same count, so the product page always shows how much is left.

Turning It On​

  1. Go to Settings > Edit Settings and open the Products & Inventory tab.
  2. Under Stock Management, tick Enable Units of Measure (pack / case / pallet).
  3. Under Product Management Features, tick Enable Bar Drinks.
  4. Click Update Settings.

Once it's on, Cocktail Library appears in the More Actions menu on the Products page.

More detail: setting up a liquor bottle

Setting Up a Bottle​

Set each bottle up once, from its product.

  1. Open the product and go to its Inventory tab.
  2. Click Set this up as a liquor bottle (sell by the pour). The Set up as a liquor bottle page opens.
  3. Choose the Bottle size (how you receive it), for example 750ml Bottle or 1.14L Bottle. For an unusual bottle, pick Custom size… and type the Volume in mL, L or oz.
  4. Tick the Pours you serve: Single (1 oz), Shot (1.5 oz), Double (3 oz), Wine (5 oz), Wine (6 oz) or Wine (9 oz).
  5. Click Set up bottle & pours.

Setting Pour Prices​

Every pour starts at $0, so set the prices straight away:

  1. On the same page, find the Levels table. There's a row for the bottle and one for each pour.
  2. Type a Price for each pour. You can also add a Cost (opt) and a Barcode / QR.
  3. Leave Sellable ticked on the pours you sell. The bottle row is for receiving and isn't sold.
  4. Click Save levels.

To come back to this page later, open the product, open More Actions at the top and click Bottle & Pours.

Receiving Bottles​

Under Receive stock on the same page, pick the bottle in Level, type the Quantity (number of bottles) and, if you like, the Total cost paid. Click Receive. The bottles' ounces are added to stock.

On a purchase order a bottle is ordered and received by the bottle too: its line reads, for example, 2 × 750ml Bottle, with the cost per 750ml Bottle. Each bottle received adds its ounces to stock. Scan to Receive counts bottles the same way.

More detail: tracking mixers by volume

Tracking Mixers by Volume​

A cocktail pours its mixers in ounces, for example 4 oz of orange juice in a Screwdriver. If the juice is counted by the carton, each drink takes 4 whole cartons. Tracking the mixer by volume counts it in ounces instead, just like a liquor bottle.

  1. Open the mixer's product and go to its Inventory tab. The Track this mixer by volume box shows on mixers a drink uses, and on products whose name gives a size, such as "Cola 355ml". A drink's recipe also flags each mixer that's still counted by the unit, with a Track it by volume link.
  2. Pick the Container size (how you receive it): a can, a carton, a bottle or a jug. For anything else, pick Custom size… and type the Volume in mL, L or oz.
  3. Click Track by volume.

What changes:

  • What you have on hand is turned into ounces. 6 cartons of 1.89 L become about 383 oz, and the stock is worth the same.
  • Each drink takes the ounces its recipe pours, and a void or a return puts those ounces back.
  • The drink's estimated cost uses the mixer's cost per ounce.
  • You still receive it by the container: open More Actions at the top of the product, click Mixer sizes and use Receive stock. A purchase order or Scan to Receive also counts it by the container.
  • If the mixer has a price, the register keeps selling a whole can or carton at that price.
  • It's taken off your online store, like a liquor bottle.
More detail: adding cocktails from the Cocktail Library

The Cocktail Library​

The Cocktail Library comes loaded with classic recipes. There's nothing to set up. On the Products page, open More Actions and click Cocktail Library.

Each recipe card shows the glass, the ingredients in ounces (a ★ marks a spirit the bartender can swap) and whether you can make it:

  • Can make: you stock everything it needs. Click Add to menu →.
  • A count such as 2/3: something is missing, and the card says what (Missing: …). Click Configure anyway to add it without that ingredient.

The top of the page shows how many drinks are ready to add, and which bottles would unlock more (Stock these to unlock more:).

The library matches ingredients to your products by name. A product called "Smirnoff Vodka" is matched to vodka, and bottles you've set up are picked first.

Adding a Cocktail to Your Menu​

After clicking Add to menu → or Configure anyway:

  1. Ingredients: check the product used for each ingredient and change it in the list if needed. An ingredient with no match is skipped.
  2. Spirit choices: for a ★ swappable spirit, tick (Use) each brand the bartender can pick. Set an Upcharge $ for the pricier ones, and choose the Well brand. The well pour is included in the drink's price; other brands add their upcharge.
  3. Price: the Est. cost is worked out for you. Type a Target pour cost % or a …or margin % to get a suggested Menu price $, or type the menu price yourself.
  4. Pick a Category (for example "Cocktails").
  5. Click Add to menu.

The drink is created and its product page opens so you can review the recipe and price. To add another spirit choice later, use Spirit choices (well / call / top-shelf) on the drink's product page and click Add spirit slot.

More detail: selling drinks at the register and running tabs

At the Register​

  • A pour: tap the bottle. The Choose a pour window lists each pour with its size and price. Tap the pour, set the Quantity and tap the Add button at the bottom (it shows the total).
  • A cocktail: tap it like any other product. If it has spirit choices, pick the brand. The upcharge is added to the price.

Tabs for Bar Customers​

To let customers run a bar tab without a table, an admin turns on open tabs:

  1. Go to Settings > Edit Settings, open the Sales & Integrations tab and find Restaurant & Food Service Features.
  2. Tick Enable open tabs (bar tabs without a table).
  3. Click Update Settings.

A Tabs button then appears on the register. See Open Tabs.

Putting Pours on a Tab​

  1. Tap Tabs, open the customer's tab and tap Add Item. (A tab you just started with New Tab is ready for items straight away.)
  2. Tap the bottle. In the Choose a pour window, tap the pour, set the Quantity and tap the Add button.
  3. The pour goes on the tab, for example "Vodka 750ml — Shot (1.5 oz) × 2", at the pour's price.

Pours already in the cart stay pours when you tap Tabs then Save cart as tab.

When the customer pays, open the tab and tap Close Tab, then Close & Pay. The pours load into the cart, and each one comes off the bottle by its size (two 1.5 oz shots take 3 oz).

If you don't see the open tabs box, your plan doesn't include it. Contact support to upgrade.

More detail: troubleshooting

Troubleshooting​

ProblemWhat to check
No Cocktail Library in the Products page's More Actions menuEnable Bar Drinks is off. Turn it on under Settings > Edit Settings > Products & Inventory.
No Set this up as a liquor bottle linkEnable Units of Measure or Enable Bar Drinks is off, the product is a single size (variation) of another product, or it's already set up (look for Bottle & Pours under More Actions at the top).
A drink takes whole cartons or cans of a mixerThe mixer is counted by the unit. Open it, go to its Inventory tab and use Track this mixer by volume.
A pour sells for $0Set its Price in the Levels table and click Save levels.
No Choose a pour window when tapping the bottleThe bottle has no pours ticked Sellable. Open Bottle & Pours and check the Levels table.
A spirit has no brands to choose fromNo bottle's name matches that spirit. Set up a bottle whose name includes it, such as "Bacardi White Rum".
A pour went into the cart instead of the tabOpen the tab and tap Add Item first, then tap the bottle.

What's Next?​