Party Drink Quantity Calculator
Work out how many bottles of wine, beers and soft drinks to buy for a party from your guest count, hours and how heavily they drink.
How it works
Alcoholic drinks = guests × drinker% × rate × hours · Wine bottles = wine drinks ÷ 5 (glasses/bottle)
Drink planning starts from a per-person hourly rate: a relaxed gathering runs about one drink an hour, a lively party closer to two, with the first hour usually the heaviest. Multiply by the guests who actually drink and the party length to get total servings, then split them between wine and beer by taste. A standard 750 ml bottle pours about five glasses, so bottles equal wine servings divided by five, rounded up so you never come up short.
Worked example
20 guests, 70% drinking, at 1.5 drinks/hour for 4 hours is 20 × 0.7 × 1.5 × 4 = 84 alcoholic drinks. Split 50/50, that is 42 wine servings — 42 ÷ 5 ≈ 9 bottles — and 42 beers. The 6 non-drinkers plus general thirst call for roughly 34 soft drinks.
Frequently asked questions
How many glasses are in a bottle of wine?
A standard 750 ml bottle holds about five 5-ounce (150 ml) glasses. Magnums (1.5 L) hold ten. This calculator rounds bottles up so a nearly-empty last bottle is always covered.
Should I really assume two drinks in the first hour?
Guests tend to drink fastest early while mingling, then taper off. Using an average rate of 1.5–2 per hour bakes in that early surge; if your crowd is light, drop the rate to 1 to avoid over-buying.
What about ice and mixers?
This tool covers bottled and canned drinks. For cocktails add spirits and mixers separately, and use a dedicated ice estimate — parties need far more ice than people expect once drinks and coolers are counted.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.