To cost a batch drink such as lemonade, iced tea or agua fresca, add up everything in the batch (fruit, sugar, tea, herbs and your time) and divide it by the litres you actually sell, after straining and after pouring away what is left at closing. That gives you the cost per litre sold. For each cup size, multiply that cost by the millilitres in the cup and add the cup and the ice. The small size almost always carries more cup and ice per litre, and that changes its price.
Three numbers you need to measure
1. The batch cost. Everything that goes into the batch at receipt prices: lemons, sugar, mint, tea, fruit. Plus your time juicing, straining, mixing and cleaning, and any energy if you boil or brew.
2. What it yields after straining. If you add 10 litres of water, you do not end up with exactly what you planned. Pulp, pips and peel hold liquid, and brewed tea loses some to the leaves. Measure the strained batch in a marked bucket or a measuring jug. That is your recipe yield.
3. What you sell. At closing there is usually something left in the dispenser. If you pour it away, those litres are not sold. Log for a week how much is left each day.
The cost that matters is the cost per litre sold:
cost per litre sold = batch cost ÷ litres sold
Worked example: a batch of lemonade
These are one stall's measurements. Yours will be different.
| Ingredient | Amount | Price | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemons | 3 kg | $4.00 per kg | $12.00 |
| Sugar | 2 kg | $1.50 per kg | $3.00 |
| Mint | 2 bunches | $1.50 each | $3.00 |
| Your time | 1 hour | $18 an hour | $18.00 |
| Batch total | $36.00 |
- After juicing, mixing and straining, you measured 12 litres.
- Cost per litre made: 36.00 ÷ 12 = $3.00
- At closing you pour away 1 litre; you sell 11.
- Cost per litre sold: 36.00 ÷ 11 = $3.27
That one litre poured away adds 3.27 − 3.00 = $0.27 to every litre you sell. It looks small until you multiply it by every litre in the month.
From litre to cup
A "16 oz" cup holds about 473 ml empty (one fluid ounce is about 29.6 ml), but full of ice it takes much less lemonade. Fill it with your ice, pour lemonade from a measuring jug and note how much goes in. Do the same for each size. If you buy in units that differ from the ones you use, the guide on units and conversions for costing helps you get everything into grams and millilitres.
At this stall you measured:
- 12 oz cup with ice: 250 ml of lemonade.
- 16 oz cup with ice: 350 ml of lemonade.
- 1 litre takeaway bottle, no ice: 1 litre.
| 12 oz cup | 16 oz cup | 1 litre bottle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemonade | 0.25 × 3.27 = $0.82 | 0.35 × 3.27 = $1.14 | 1 × 3.27 = $3.27 |
| Ice | $0.05 | $0.06 | — |
| Cup, lid, straw, or bottle with cap and label | $0.20 | $0.24 | $0.80 |
| Cost per unit | $1.07 | $1.44 | $4.07 |
At a 60% margin on the price before tax: 12 oz 1.07 ÷ 0.40 = $2.68; 16 oz 1.44 ÷ 0.40 = $3.60; bottle 4.07 ÷ 0.40 = $10.18. Add sales tax on top if your local rules require it.
What the table tells you
The small cup carries more packaging. In the 12 oz, ice and cup are 0.25 ÷ 1.07 = 23% of the cost. In the bottle, the packaging is 0.80 ÷ 4.07 = 20%, spread over four times as much drink. The cup and ice are close to fixed per unit, so the less lemonade in it, the more they weigh. The guide on cups, lids, straws and ice shows how to cost each one by size.
The price per litre to your customer does not have to match across sizes. At the prices above, a litre of lemonade costs your customer 2.68 ÷ 0.25 = $10.72 in a small cup, 3.60 ÷ 0.35 = $10.29 in a large cup and $10.18 in a bottle. That is fine: what matters is that each size leaves you the margin you are after.
The bottle has costs of its own. If you sell it in shops or for delivery, add the loss when filling and the bottles that do not sell before the lemonade turns. The guide on bottled drinks you make goes into that.
If you make a double batch
When you double the batch, not everything doubles. Lemons, sugar and mint do: 18.00 × 2 = $36.00. But your time goes from 1 hour to 1.5 hours ($27.00), not 2. Total: 36.00 + 27.00 = $63.00.
- Strained: 24 litres. If you sell 22 and pour away 2: 63 ÷ 22 = $2.86 per litre sold. You saved $0.41 a litre.
- But if you still sell 11 litres a day and pour away 13: 63 ÷ 11 = $5.73 per litre sold. Far more than the small batch.
Making more only makes it cheaper if you sell it. The guide on scaling a recipe without breaking the cost explains what does not grow in proportion, and the recipe scaler gives you the quantities for the number of servings you need.
The same for iced tea, agua fresca or cold brew
The method does not change with the drink. Iced tea, hibiscus, agua fresca, cold brew concentrate: batch cost, yield measured after straining, litres you actually sell, then cup by cup with its ice and packaging. What changes is the waste. Lemonade turns bitter if it waits, fruit waters separate and lose colour, and cold brew has its own keeping time. Measure how much you pour away of each one separately. To see all your drinks together and decide each one's margin, read the guide on how to price drinks.
Do it with the calculator
Put the batch ingredients and your time into the food cost calculator, with the number of cups you sell from each batch and the cup and ice as packaging, and it gives you the cost per cup and the price for the margin you want.
Frequently asked questions
How many litres of lemonade does a kilo of lemons make?
It depends on your lemons, your recipe and how much water you add. Measure the finished, strained batch in a marked bucket or jug. That is your yield, and it is the number that goes into your cost.
Does the lemonade I pour away at closing count in the cost?
Yes. If you make 12 litres and sell 11, the batch is paid for by 11 litres, not 12. Always divide by the litres you actually sell.
How much drink fits in a 16 oz cup with ice?
A 16 oz cup holds about 473 ml when empty, but with ice it takes a lot less drink. Fill your cups with your ice and measure with a measuring jug how much lemonade goes in. Use that number.
Is a bigger batch cheaper per litre?
Ingredients double, but your time does not, so the litre gets cheaper. It only pays if you sell the extra; otherwise you pour more away and each litre sold costs more.