Definition
Recipe cost
The sum of ingredient costs for the quantities specified in one menu-item recipe, the build cost behind a cocktail, glass, or shot.
Formula
Recipe cost = Σ (ingredient quantity × cost per matching unit)
Worked example
House Old Fashioned: 2 oz whiskey at $0.40/oz = $0.80; 0.25 oz syrup at $0.10/oz = $0.025; bitters negligible. Recipe cost ≈ $0.83. At a $12 menu price, recipe cost % ≈ 6.9% before garnish and waste, period pour cost will be higher once variance and mix enter.
When operators use this
Use recipe cost when you price or rebuild a drink. Use period pour cost when you judge the week. They are cousins, not twins. price creep is why the cost per ounce must come from a current invoice. what if scenario is how you test a $1 menu move before you reprint.
Common mistakes
Leaving the build at 1.25 oz after the house pour moved to 1.5 oz scales error across every sale. Updating the well bottle cost but not the call bottle, or blending a one-off import into the house SKU, does the same. Garnish policy belongs in writing.
How ExactPour handles it
ExactPour stores recipes against menu items, multiplies by current product cost (kept fresh via invoices), and surfaces drink-level margin beside period pour cost so pricing decisions use the same cost basis as inventory.
Qualification
Unit conversions, yield, garnish policy, and current purchase cost affect the estimate. Stale cost sheets produce confident but wrong recipe costs.