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Why Does a Cocktail Cost $13?

Posted: 08/17/11 02:23 PM ET

The best bars in America serve amazing classic and original drinks made with the freshest ingredients, the finest alcohol and a bewildering selection of ice. But often what's even more attention-grabbing is the price. It's not unusual to spend $13 or more per cocktail.

While at first blush that seems rather high, what most people don't take into account is all the hard work and hours of preparation required to produce a perfectly crafted tipple. But instead of us telling you about this process, we thought you'd like to see it for yourself.

For our very first Liquor.com video, we spent a few days at San Francisco's legendary Bourbon & Branch filming the staff, led by bar manager Jayson Wilde and general manager Ian Scalzo, as they prepare for a typical night. You'll get an unprecedented look behind the scenes of one of the world's top establishments and find out just how much effort is put into making each and every drink.

This is the beginning of many more interesting short films we'll be creating, which will offer unique perspectives on the universe of cocktails and spirits.

So, fix yourself a drink and enjoy the show!

Behind the Drink: The $13 Cocktail from Liquor.com on Vimeo.

 

Follow Liquor.com on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Liquor

The best bars in America serve amazing classic and original drinks made with the freshest ingredients, the finest alcohol and a bewildering selection of ice. But often what's even more attention-grabb...
The best bars in America serve amazing classic and original drinks made with the freshest ingredients, the finest alcohol and a bewildering selection of ice. But often what's even more attention-grabb...
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
uncc49er
10:58 AM on 08/22/2011
Alcohol is generally cheap in America. I recently paid €7.00 for a bottle of Corona in Paris. But that being said, most cocktails shouldn't cost more than $7-8 in America. You are paying the extra money to cover for the cost of operating the high end places.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Stephen Thorpe
Every breath you take - I'll take one too!
03:29 PM on 08/21/2011
Beer, wine and liquer is a profit center, especially for a bar that sells little or no food.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
SToTheF
07:51 AM on 08/22/2011
Liquer? Is that gay spirits???
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Stephen Thorpe
Every breath you take - I'll take one too!
03:15 PM on 08/22/2011
Oh what a difference an 'o' makes,.... hear that fingers? No? Uhkay. ;-)
02:46 AM on 08/20/2011
People who drink like to feel important spending a lot at the bar. The liquor feeds the insecurities.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Nunyabiz1
02:46 PM on 08/19/2011
BS, the ingredients in most cocktails are probably far less on average than about $2-$3 tops and it take a bartender on average less than 1 minute to make it.
No cocktail should ever cost more than $6 tops
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
stevchipmunk
04:55 PM on 08/19/2011
You are right that the average cost of a drink is $2 - $3 tops. But $6 is too cheap.

Restaurants generally, mark up their cost by 3x - 4x. Anymore is in lala land catering to customers who are sold by ultra high prices. So a cocktail--in a normal high class establishment--really shouldn't cost more than $6 - $12. So $6 sounds like a deal. $9 is probably reasonably high. And $12 is at the outer reaches.

$13 for a cocktail is at establishments where they tell their customers that if they have to ask about the price, they probably can't afford to dine and drink there. But you'd be surprised at how many poor shmucks will pay for the privilege of being seen at places like that.
11:28 AM on 08/19/2011
I think the price is in line with lots of wines by the glass. I'd rather pay more and get quality ingredients than less for whatever well drink the bartender pours.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
lobsterhead2
04:59 AM on 08/19/2011
what you are paying for with that 13 bucks is just what you get at those so-called fine dining restaurants.
the FEELING of know you just paid thirteen bucks for a drink AND being seen doing it to impress your hipster pals.
I have been to plenty of over-priced snob joints and the vibe is consistently ranging from friendly smug to downright smugly.
I've been to places in the States and Europe and I really cannot see why these places continue to exist.
but then again- you have so-called audiophiles who will spend thousands for "premium speaker cables"
yep Barnum was right- there really is one born every minute
10:21 PM on 08/18/2011
Alcohol is a high margin mark-up profit center, nothing more nothing else. I prefer to drink, but, at home with top line alcohol and have several drinks. When I am out I drink one or two drinks never more, after two drinks you nearly bought a full bottle for the house.
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deepintheheartoftejas
Middle o/t Road = Yellow stripes & dead armadillos
10:10 PM on 08/18/2011
#SATSQ Because certain people are willing to pay it.
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BoFo
Like, you talkin' to me?
09:57 PM on 08/18/2011
So what's the excuse for those same places charging almost the same price for a scotch or bourbon, neat? Not any time or skill needed there. And selling a mediocre wine that would retail for $8 a bottle for $8 to $12 a glass?

Don't believe the hype. These days, nobody is content with making an honest buck, selling a good product or service at a reasonable markup. Everybody wants to make a killing. The big corporations pioneered the practice and now it is common practice everywhere. It's called greed.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
lobsterhead2
05:01 AM on 08/19/2011
bingo!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Nunyabiz1
02:47 PM on 08/19/2011
Precisely!
04:43 PM on 08/18/2011
And if you can't afford a $13 dollar cocktail you shouldn't get one. I can't afford a Porsche but I don't cry about it. Drinks cost so much not just for the ingredients but include normal operating costs like electricity, gas, water, sewage, waste disposal, linen, wages, taxes, rent/mortgage, insurance, liquor license, product cost, line cleaning, plumbing, refrigeration repairs, delivery charges, etc... Then add on this level of craftmanship. This is obviously the Porsche dealership of cocktails. Go drink at the Geo Prism sportsbar down the street. Or you can always stay home and help kill jobs and ruin the economy. :)
08:30 PM on 08/18/2011
True but they also buy in bulk which means they are buying the liquor cheaper so a case of whatever your choice of drink is, the bar will make their money back off that one case using just 1 or 2 bottles thus making the rest all profit. And if their selling food..their killing it.
04:41 PM on 08/18/2011
or you could just drink from the bottle like god intended....
01:39 PM on 08/19/2011
Here, here!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
P Markham72
03:20 PM on 08/18/2011
Because the same people who are complaining about gas, food, and all the other rising prices have backward priorities and will pay that much
02:51 PM on 08/18/2011
This does not explain $13 for a vodka/tonic

I would rather pay $3 for a drink in a Caribbean beach bar than drink whatever the heck that is. The price goes up to $4 and everyone goes down the street.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
HonkyTonkMan
02:47 PM on 08/18/2011
It's the cost of beers in bars that gets me. I just can't rationalize spending $5-7 on something that I know costs between 50 cents and $1.50 if I were to buy it in a 12 pack.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Yam716
For Natural Hair CurlTalk, Visit: lillian-mae
03:56 PM on 08/18/2011
I like Patron. I can get a 5th for $40.

Shots of Patron are between $11-13 :-| Can you imagine!

It's best to start the party before you get there!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
medicontheedge
big loud broad
08:41 AM on 08/18/2011
I'll tell you why: because pretentious poseurs think it makes them oh so hip.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nolabels
01:26 PM on 08/18/2011
Have you ever been to this bar, PDT, Death and Company or any other high-end bar? The drinks truly are better. You can taste the effort these bartenders put into those drinks. If you have had a drink at such a bar, you ought not post on this thread.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nolabels
01:29 PM on 08/18/2011
*haven't
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
medicontheedge
big loud broad
10:23 PM on 08/18/2011
I rest my case.