How many cocktails do you need for 100 guests?

It's one of the first questions when planning a wedding, a corporate party or a birthday: will there be enough to drink? Order too little and the bar runs dry mid-evening. Order too much and the budget goes to waste. The good news: the maths is simpler than it looks.

The basic rule: drinks per guest

Event planners commonly use a simple rule of thumb:

First hour — about 2 drinks per guest;
Every hour after — about 1 drink per guest.

It isn't exact science, just an average from experience. These numbers are for planning supply with a buffer, not a target per guest. The real figure depends on the event:

Evening events with music and dancing usually mean more drinks;
Summer and outdoor events push up demand for refreshing cocktails;
Daytime and business events mean fewer drinks;
If wine, beer or spirits are also on the menu, cocktails will be only part of the total.

Example: 100 guests, 4 hours

Let's do the maths:

First hour: 2 drinks × 100 guests = 200 drinks.
Next 3 hours: 1 drink × 3 hours × 100 guests = 300 drinks.
Total: about 500 drinks.

Now think about how many of these will be cocktails. If the bar serves only cocktails, plan for about 500 serves. If roughly half the guests will choose wine or other drinks, about 250 cocktail serves is enough.

From cocktails to kegs

One 20-litre Punch Club keg gives about 100 serves. Whiskey Sour is poured in smaller serves, so its keg gives about 200. Here's how to work out the number of kegs:

Number of kegs = cocktail serves ÷ 100 (÷ 200 for Whiskey Sour)

Example: for 250 cocktail serves you need about 3 kegs — for example, 2 kegs of Paloma or Gin Tonic and 1 keg of Whiskey Sour.

Always round up. The minimum order is 2 kegs, and you can combine flavours.

How to split the flavours

For a 100-guest event, 2–3 flavours work well — everyone finds one they like:

Light and refreshing: Gin Tonic, Paloma, Sencha Raspberry Spritz or Aperitivo Spritz;
Richer: Whiskey Sour or Pornstar Martini.

If you know your guests love a particular cocktail, increase its share.

4 questions before you calculate

Before getting to the numbers, answer these:

How long will the event last? Count the reception, dinner and dancing separately.
How many guests will drink alcohol? Leave out children, drivers and non-drinkers.
What else will the bar serve? If there's wine or beer, reduce the cocktail share.
When does the bar open? A bar that opens as guests arrive means more drinks in the first hour.

With these answers, the rule above takes a few minutes.

Keep a buffer

It's common practice to add a small buffer: events often run longer than planned, and guest numbers tend to grow. And don't forget non-alcoholic drinks for drivers and non-drinkers.

No queue at the bar

Getting the number of cocktails right is half the job; the other half is serving them fast. With tap cocktails, every serve is poured in seconds and no queue forms at the bar — Skip the line. Punch Club can bring a bar with our own bartenders, or deliver the kegs straight to your venue.

18+: Alcoholic drinks are for adults aged 18 and over only. Please drink responsibly.