cocktail-spec

---
name: cocktail-spec
description: Turns the drinks your bar already makes into written specifications that cost out, pour the same on a Tuesday as on a Saturday, respect the spirit measures the law fixes for a two-liquid drink, carry their allergens, and price to a cash margin you chose. Use when a drink costs more than you thought, when two bartenders make it differently, or before you put a new cocktail list on a table.
---

# The same drink, whoever is behind the bar, at the margin you costed

You give this the drinks you serve, the recipes as your bartenders actually make them, your bottle invoices and your glassware. You get back one specification per drink: every ingredient in millilitres or grams, the glass, the ice, the method and the garnish, the cost per serve built from the invoice, the cash margin at your price, the allergens listed by ingredient, and a flag on every drink that the measures law treats as a straight spirit serve rather than a cocktail. It will not invent a recipe and it will not tell you a drink tastes good.

## What it does

1. **Write the drink down in millilitres and grams before anything else, including the parts nobody writes down.** One row per ingredient with the exact volume or weight, then the glass by name, the ice by form and quantity, the method, the dilution target, the garnish and the service vessel. "A dash", "a splash", "top up" and "to taste" are not specifications, they are the reason the cost varies by 40p between two bartenders and nobody can say which one is right. Where the bar genuinely works to a free pour, record the free pour and the measured equivalent side by side, because you cannot cost what you have not measured.

2. **Decide whether the drink is a cocktail in law or a spirit serve in disguise, because the answer changes what you are allowed to pour.** Article 3(2) of the Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988 exempts gin, rum, vodka and whisky from the fixed measures only "when it forms a constituent of a mixture of three or more liquids". A Negroni is three liquids and is free. A gin and tonic is two, so the gin in it must be 25ml or 35ml or a multiple. So is a vodka and soda, a whisky and coke, and a rum and ginger beer. Flag every two-liquid build in the spec sheet, because that is where a bar pours 50ml out of habit and is short of a defence.

3. **Fix one house measure and apply it everywhere, because the Order makes it a single choice.** Article 3(1)(a) requires the quantity to be "the same for those parts of any licensed premises or licensed canteen... of which any person is the licensee and for all those liquors, that is to say... 25 ml or 35 ml". GOV.UK puts the same point in plain words: "Either 25ml and multiples of 25ml, or 35ml and multiples of 35ml". You cannot pour 25ml gin downstairs and 35ml whisky upstairs. Record the house measure once at the top of the spec book, and note that article 3(1)(b) requires a written statement of it to be displayed "readily available without special request for inspection by the buyer before the sale is made".

4. **Cost the spec from the invoice, per millilitre, including the things that are not spirit.** Landed cost per bottle from the invoice with delivery apportioned, divided by bottle volume, gives cost per millilitre. Multiply through the spec. Then add the garnish at its own unit cost, the ice by weight at the cost of producing it, the straw, the pick and any house syrup at the cost of its own recipe rather than at a guess. A house syrup that has never been costed is the most common single hole in a cocktail cost, because it is made in the kitchen and never appears on a bar invoice.

5. **Add the yield loss to the cost before you price, rather than discovering it at the stocktake.** Three named losses: over-pour against the spec, measured by weighing a sample of real pours rather than by asking; spill and shaker residue, which is a fixed fraction of every build; and the last serve in each bottle, which is the part too small to make the drink. Record each as a percentage of the spec volume with the date and method of the measurement. A cost that ignores yield is the cost of a drink nobody has ever actually made.

6. **Check what the duty inside each spirit is doing, because it does not scale with your pour.** Duty is charged per litre of pure alcohol, and on the rates in force from 1 February 2026 a spirit stronger than 22% ABV is charged at 33.99 per litre of pure alcohol. Worked from that figure, a 70cl bottle at 40% ABV contains 0.28 litres of pure alcohol and carries about 9.51 of duty, which is about 34p inside a 25ml measure and about 48p inside a 35ml one. That is a real difference in the cost of the same drink depending on a decision you made once in step 3. Recompute from the current HMRC page rather than reusing these figures after a Budget.

7. **Price on cash margin per serve and record the price you actually charge, not the one you meant to.** Cash margin first, percentage second. Then reconcile against the till: a drink specced at one price and sold at another is a spec that is not being used, and that is a finding, not a rounding error. Where a drink cannot reach the cash target, the options are to change the build, change the glass or take it off, and the spec sheet says which one was chosen and when.

8. **Batch only what the law lets you batch, and write down what changes when you do.** The mandatory licensing condition on measures excludes "alcoholic drinks sold or supplied having been made up in advance ready for sale or supply in a securely closed container", so a sealed pre-batched serve sits outside the smaller-measures duty in a way a built drink does not. That is a real operational difference, and it comes with obligations of its own: the batch needs a production date, a batch reference, a stated volume, a strength and an allergen record, and it needs an owner who can say what is in it when somebody asks at eleven at night.

9. **List the allergens per ingredient, in writing, and date the sheet.** Article 44 of assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 makes allergen particulars mandatory for food sold without prepackaging, which is what a made-to-order drink is. The FSA's best practice is that the information should be "easily available in writing and be underpinned with a conversation". Behind a bar the fourteen turn up in places the list does not show: egg in a sour, milk in a cream liqueur, nuts in orgeat, sulphites in vermouth and wine-based aperitifs, sesame and soy in a savoury garnish, celery in a Bloody Mary mix. Each ingredient row carries its allergen source and the date that source was read, and the sheet carries a build date.

## Then it checks

1. Every ingredient in every spec has a numeric volume in millilitres or a weight in grams, and the words dash, splash, top up and to taste appear nowhere.
2. Every drink is classified as three-or-more liquids or as two liquids, and every two-liquid build states the house measure it must be poured at.
3. One house measure is recorded for the whole premises, it is 25ml or 35ml and not both, and the file records where the written statement of it is displayed.
4. Every ingredient names an invoice or a costed house recipe, with a date, and no ingredient is costed from a remembered price.
5. Every spec shows cost per serve, the yield loss applied with the date it was measured, the price charged read from the till, and cash margin computed from those three.
6. Every ingredient row carries an allergen entry with its source and the date that source was read, and the sheet carries a build date.

Any check fails: name it, redo that step once. Failed twice: say what is wrong and stop.

## Rules
- Public information only.
- Never invent a fact, a number or a quote.
- Anything sent in someone's name says whose name it is. A drink description written as though the bartender wrote it goes to the bartender before it is printed.
- Never invent or improve a recipe. The specification records what the bar makes; changing the build is the owner's decision and it is logged with a date and a reason.
- Never cost an ingredient from a remembered price, a supermarket shelf or a comparable product. An ingredient with no invoice and no costed house recipe is a gap, not an estimate.
- Never state an industry average pour cost, a standard bar gross profit, a benchmark cocktail margin or a wastage percentage taken from anywhere but this bar's own measurement. No such figure exists for a single independent UK venue and an owner who chases one will re-spec drinks that were already earning.
- Refuse to write a specification for, or a price on, a promotion that requires a customer to drink a quantity within a time limit, to drink as much as possible, or that offers unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol for a fixed fee. Those are named as irresponsible promotions in the mandatory licensing conditions, and a spec sheet is not the place to make one look respectable.
- Never record a drink as free of the fixed spirit measures unless it genuinely contains three or more liquids. Counting a garnish, an ice cube, a bitters dash sprayed over the top or the same spirit twice as separate liquids is how a two-liquid serve gets treated as a cocktail.
- This output is a working document prepared for the owner to check against their own invoices, their licence and their staff, and for their accountant, their environmental health officer or their licensing officer to check where it touches costing, allergens or the conditions on the premises licence. It applies published rules to the owner's own recipes. It is not legal advice, it is not food safety advice, and it does not certify that any drink complies.

## Built from
- The Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988, article 3, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1988/2039/article/3, read 16 September 2026: the three-or-more-liquids exemption at article 3(2) in step 2, the single-house-measure requirement and the display duty at article 3(1) in step 3.
- GOV.UK, "Weights and measures: the law: Specified quantities", https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/specified-quantities, no publication date shown on the page, read 16 September 2026: the plain wording "Either 25ml and multiples of 25ml, or 35ml and multiples of 35ml" quoted in step 3.
- The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) (Amendment) Order 2014, Schedule, paragraphs 1 and 4, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2440/made, made 11 September 2014 and in force 1 October 2014, read 16 September 2026: the securely-closed-container exclusion that step 8 turns on, and the list of irresponsible promotions the rules section refuses to spec.
- HM Revenue and Customs, "Alcohol Duty rates", https://www.gov.uk/guidance/alcohol-duty-rates, published 23 August 2023 and last updated 1 February 2026, read 16 September 2026: the 33.99 per litre of pure alcohol rate for products stronger than 22% ABV that step 6 works its example from.
- HM Revenue and Customs, "Work out how much Alcohol Duty you need to pay", https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-how-much-alcohol-duty-you-need-to-pay, published 29 June 2023 and last updated 1 February 2026, read 16 September 2026: the litres of pure alcohol method and the rounding rule used in the step 6 calculation.
- Assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, article 44, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2011/1169/article/44, read 16 September 2026: the mandatory allergen particulars for food sold without prepackaging, which is what a made-to-order drink is, in step 9.
- Food Standards Agency, "Allergen information for non-prepacked foods best practice", https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/allergen-information-for-non-prepacked-foods-best-practice/allergen-information-for-non-prepacked-foods-best-practice, published 24 February 2025, read 16 September 2026: the written plus conversation standard and the fourteen allergen names used in step 9 and in check 6.

# cocktail-spec

## You are given
Every drink the bar makes, written out as the bartenders actually make it, unedited, with each ingredient's volume in millilitres or weight in grams, the glass by name, the ice by form and quantity, the method, the garnish and the service vessel. The house measure already chosen by the owner, either 25ml or 35ml and not both. The classification already made for each drink, as three or more liquids or as two liquids. The supplier invoices behind every bottled ingredient, showing invoice date, case size, unit cost excluding VAT and any delivery charge. The costed house recipe for every syrup, cordial, infusion or sherbet made on site, each with its yield. The garnish, ice and sundry unit costs. The measured yield losses for over-pour, for spill and shaker residue, and for last-serve, each as a percentage with the date and method of the measurement. The prices actually charged, read from the till export rather than from a menu. The allergen source for every ingredient, with the date each source was read. Which drinks are made up in advance in a securely closed container, and for each the production date, volume, stated strength, allergen record and responsible person. The alcohol duty rates already read from HMRC with the date they were read. The owner's cash margin target per drink.

## Produce
Write into a `./cocktail-spec-output/` folder:

1. `drinks.csv` with these columns in this order: `drink_ref`, `drink_name_verbatim`, `liquid_count`, `legal_class`, `house_measure_ml`, `glass`, `ice_form`, `ice_grams`, `method`, `garnish`, `service_vessel`, `dilution_target_ml`, `spec_volume_ml`, `made_up_in_advance`, `batch_production_date`, `batch_volume_ml`, `batch_stated_abv`, `container_sealed`, `batch_allergen_record_present`, `batch_responsible_person`. `drink_ref` is D001 upward. `legal_class` is exactly one of `cocktail, three or more liquids` or `spirit serve, two liquids`. `house_measure_ml` is filled only where `legal_class` is `spirit serve, two liquids`. The seven batch columns are filled only where `made_up_in_advance` is `yes`; `container_sealed` and `batch_allergen_record_present` are `yes` or `no`, and any `no` is listed in `gaps.md`.
2. `ingredients.csv` with columns: `drink_ref`, `line_no`, `ingredient_verbatim`, `quantity`, `unit`, `is_alcoholic`, `abv_percent`, `source_type`, `invoice_ref_or_recipe_ref`, `source_date`, `cost_per_ml_or_g`, `line_cost`. `unit` is exactly `ml` or `g`. `source_type` is exactly one of `invoice`, `house recipe`, `sundry price list`, `none supplied`. Any row with `source_type` of `none supplied` has empty cost columns and is listed in `gaps.md`.
3. `costs.csv` with columns: `drink_ref`, `ingredient_cost`, `garnish_cost`, `ice_cost`, `sundries_cost`, `spec_cost`, `overpour_percent`, `spill_percent`, `last_serve_percent`, `yield_loaded_cost`, `price_charged`, `price_source`, `cash_margin`, `percentage_margin`, `cash_target`, `meets_cash_target`. `price_source` is exactly `till export` or `not supplied`. `meets_cash_target` is `yes` or `no`.
4. `duty.csv` with columns: `ingredient_verbatim`, `abv_percent`, `duty_band`, `duty_rate_per_lpa`, `rate_read_date`, `bottle_size_ml`, `duty_per_bottle`, `duty_per_ml`, `duty_in_house_measure`. `duty_band` is exactly one of `0 to 1.2`, `1.3 to 3.4`, `3.5 to 8.4`, `8.5 to 22`, `stronger than 22`. One row per distinct alcoholic ingredient.
5. `measures-flags.csv` with columns: `drink_ref`, `drink_name_verbatim`, `spirit_ingredient`, `spirit_volume_in_spec_ml`, `permitted_under_house_measure`, `what_is_wrong`. One row for every drink classified as two liquids. `permitted_under_house_measure` is `yes` only where the spirit volume is the house measure or a whole multiple of it, otherwise `no`, and every `no` is listed in `gaps.md`.
6. `allergens.csv` with columns: `drink_ref`, `line_no`, `ingredient_verbatim`, `allergen`, `allergen_source`, `source_date`. `allergen` uses the fourteen names exactly as the supplied reference gives them, or `none identified` where that is what the source says. Every ingredient line has at least one row here, and any with `allergen_source` empty is listed in `gaps.md`.
7. `gaps.md` is a numbered list of: every ingredient with no invoice or costed recipe; every quantity supplied as a word rather than a number; every two-liquid drink whose spirit volume is not the house measure or a multiple; every drink with no price from the till export; every drink missing its cash target with the shortfall; every ingredient with no allergen source; every batch column answered `no`; and any drink where the house measure recorded differs from the one at the top of the file.

## Rules
- Codex measures, costs, classifies against supplied criteria, and records. It never writes a recipe, never adjusts a build, never rounds a quantity to something tidier, and never decides on its own that a drink is a cocktail.
- Never convert a worded quantity into a number. A dash, a splash, a top up and a to taste are copied verbatim into `ingredient_verbatim`, left with empty `quantity`, and listed in `gaps.md`.
- The liquid count and the legal classification are supplied, not computed. Where either is missing, the row is written with `legal_class` empty and the drink is listed in `gaps.md`. Never count a garnish, an ice cube or the same spirit appearing twice as a separate liquid.
- Duty per bottle is computed as bottle size in litres multiplied by ABV as a decimal multiplied by the supplied rate for that band, rounded down to the nearest penny, with the rate and its read date recorded in the row. Never carry a rate forward from an earlier run.
- Never write an industry average pour cost, a standard gross profit, a benchmark margin, or a wastage percentage from any source other than this bar's own supplied measurements. No such figure exists for a single independent UK venue and none is to appear in any file.
- Never cost or price a promotion that requires drinking a quantity within a time limit, drinking as much as possible, or supplying unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol for a fixed or discounted fee. It is recorded verbatim in `gaps.md` instead.
- Never contact a supplier, place an order, or publish any drink list.
- All money is in GBP and rounded to the penny, volumes are in millilitres, weights in grams, and every computed figure shows the inputs it came from in the same row.
- Use British English, GBP and DD Month YYYY dates. No em dash characters in any file you write, and any supplied text containing one is recorded verbatim and flagged in `gaps.md`.
- Every file ends with this line: this is a working document prepared for the owner to check against their own invoices, licence and staff, and for their accountant, environmental health officer or licensing officer to check. It applies supplied rules to supplied recipes and does not certify that any drink complies.

## Return
The absolute path of each file written, the row count of each CSV, the number of drinks specified and how many are classified as two liquids, the house measure recorded, every two-liquid drink whose spirit volume is not permitted under that house measure named in full, the number of ingredient lines with no cost source, the spec cost and yield-loaded cost of each drink with the three yield percentages applied, the number of drinks missing their cash target with the shortfall on each, the duty per house measure for each distinct spirit with the rate read date, the number of ingredient lines with no allergen source, every batch column answered `no`, and the `gaps.md` item count.