Batching drinks for a crowd
Most drink math is scaling: a recipe written for one glass becomes a recipe for a dozen by multiplying every ingredient by the same number. The cocktail batch calculator does exactly that for a single-serving recipe in ounces. The punch bowl calculator works in either direction: tell it your bowl size to see how many guests it serves, or tell it your guest count to see how big a bowl you need. The iced tea and lemonade calculator turns a guest count into quarts and into the number of standard pitcher batches to mix.
Brewing coffee by ratio
Coffee is easiest to get right by weight, not by scoops. The coffee ratio calculator starts from the Specialty Coffee Association’s Golden Ratio guidance, roughly one part coffee to fifteen to eighteen parts water, and adjusts for your brew method. Enter the water you plan to use and it returns the coffee, or the reverse. Stronger or weaker is a matter of nudging the ratio.
Planning how many drinks
A common event-planning rule is about one drink per guest per hour, with a typical mix of 40% wine, 40% beer and 20% liquor at a mixed party. Treat that as a starting point and adjust for the season, the time of day and the crowd. See how we calculate for the method behind every tool on this site.
Making a pitcher or a batch
For iced tea and lemonade, the calculator is built around a standard 8-fluid-ounce serving and a typical 2-quart pitcher recipe as the base batch, so it can tell you how many pitchers to make for your guests. The punch bowl calculator uses a 4-fluid-ounce (half-cup) serving, a common party-planning size. If your guests will drink larger glasses or come back for seconds, plan for more than the number shown.