Stirred Art
App of the Day
from the creators of 
murmur
Layered
You need
20 guests × (3 hours + 1) = 80 drinks
- 8bottles of wine40 glasses, 5 to a 750 ml bottle
- 4bottles of spirit40 cocktails at 2 oz, 12 to a 750 ml bottle
The spirit is the base of the cocktail. Count the vermouth, liqueur and mixers from the recipe you choose.
The formula
The calculator above uses one line: drinks = guests who drink × (hours + 1).
America's Test Kitchen arrived at it after asking bartenders and wedding planners. The extra drink covers the first hour, when people drink faster, and the glasses that get put down and lost. Some of the people they asked add two.
Drinks by guests and hours
| Guests | 2 hours | 3 hours | 4 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
| 20 | 60 | 80 | 100 |
| 30 | 90 | 120 | 150 |
| 40 | 120 | 160 | 200 |
| 50 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| 80 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| 100 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
Count the guests who drink. Everyone else needs something good in their glass too: here are zero-proof versions of the classics.
Turn drinks into bottles
- Wine: one 750 ml bottle pours 5 glasses.
- Spirits: one 750 ml bottle makes 12 cocktails at 2 oz each, or 16 at 1½ oz.
- A 1.75 litre bottle makes about 30 cocktails at 2 oz.
- Beer: one bottle is one drink.
Twenty guests for three hours is 80 drinks. Split evenly between wine and one cocktail, that is 8 bottles of wine and 40 cocktails, so four 750 ml bottles of the spirit. If you can't guess the split, add about a quarter to each side.
Serve two drinks
Offer one stirred drink and one long one. Make the stirred drink the day before: how to batch cocktails explains how much water to add. Build the long one in the glass, an Americano or a Whisky Highball, so nobody waits on a shaker.
A cocktail is more than one standard drink
In the United States a standard drink holds 0.6 fl oz of pure alcohol. A cocktail made with 2 oz of 40% spirit holds 0.8 fl oz, a third more, before any vermouth or liqueur. Offer a long, lighter drink beside the strong one, and sort the rides home before the first round.
Know what your guests drink
Stirred Art keeps a profile for each guest: what they like and what they can't have. When they come round, it mixes something for them from what's on your shelf and keeps their allergies in mind.
Sources
Read on 11 November 2026.
Updated 11 November 2026.
Questions
How much alcohol do I need for a party of 50?
For three hours, plan 200 drinks: 50 guests times 4. As wine alone that is 40 bottles. Split evenly, it is 20 bottles of wine and 100 cocktails, which takes nine 750 ml bottles of spirit at 2 oz a drink.
How many drinks per person should I plan for?
One per hour, plus one extra for the whole party. Count only the guests who drink. America's Test Kitchen built that formula after asking bartenders and wedding planners, and some of them add two extra.
How many cocktails does a 750 ml bottle make?
Twelve at 2 oz of spirit each, or sixteen at 1½ oz. A 1.75 litre bottle makes about 30 at 2 oz.
How many glasses of wine are in a bottle?
Five. A 750 ml bottle holds about 25 oz, which is five 5 oz glasses.
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