Party Drinks Calculator
Work out how much to buy for a party without running dry or massively over-buying. Estimate beer, wine and spirits from your guest count, how many drink, the event length and the split of preferences.
How to use this calculator
- Enter guests and the % who drink alcohol.
- Enter the event length and the preference mix.
- Buy the suggested amounts, always with plenty of water and soft drinks.
Formula used
A common planning rule: roughly one drink in the first hour, then about one per hour after, tapering slightly. The total is split across beer, wine and spirits by the chosen preference mix — ~5 glasses per wine bottle, ~16 shots per spirit bottle.
Example calculation
20 guests, 75% drink, 4 hours, balanced: 15 drinkers × ~3.7 = ~55 drinks → ~22 beers, ~5 wine bottles, ~11 shots of spirits.
Plus water and soft drinks for everyone, including the five non-drinkers.
Stocking a party sensibly
Buying drinks for a party is a balance: too little and the party stalls, too much and you're storing cases for months. The planning rule of roughly one drink per person per hour (a little front-loaded) scales reliably with headcount and length, and splitting by preference — beer, wine, spirits — turns the total into an actual shopping list, since a wine bottle pours about five glasses and a spirits bottle yields around sixteen measures.
Just as important as the alcohol is everything around it. Always provide generous water and soft drinks — not everyone drinks, and even those who do should alternate — plus food to slow the pace and ice, which people chronically under-buy. This is a logistics estimate, not encouragement to over-serve: hosting responsibly means pacing, non-alcoholic options, and making sure guests have a safe way home.
Why use this calculator?
- Turn guest count into a beer/wine/spirits shopping list.
- Scales with how many drink and how long the party runs.
- Reminds you to stock water, soft drinks and ice.
Frequently asked questions
How much alcohol do I need for a party?
Plan for about one drink per drinking guest per hour, slightly more in the first hour. For 15 drinkers over 4 hours that's roughly 55 drinks, split across beer, wine and spirits by preference. Always over-stock water and soft drinks too.
How many glasses are in a bottle of wine?
A standard 750 ml bottle pours about 5 glasses (150 ml each), or 6 smaller ones. A 700 ml spirit bottle gives roughly 16 single measures. The calculator uses these to convert drinks into bottles to buy.
What else should I provide besides alcohol?
Plenty of water, soft drinks and non-alcoholic options for non-drinkers and for pacing, generous ice (people always underestimate this), and food to slow consumption. And help guests plan a safe way home.