Bar prep list template

Make too little of an item and it runs out in the middle of service. Make too much and the syrup or juice goes down the sink when it expires. When everything is on one sheet, whoever picks it up makes the right amount without asking anyone.

To make, batches and use by

To make = MAX(0, par − on hand)
Batches = to make ÷ yield per batch, rounded up to a whole batch
Use by = made on + keeps − 1

For the simple syrup, 6,000 ml minus 1,000 ml on hand is 5,000 ml to make. One batch makes 1,600 ml, and 5,000 ÷ 1,600 = 3.125, so you make 4 batches. Four batches make 6,400 ml. The syrup keeps 7 days. Made on Friday, with Friday as day 1, it must be used by Thursday.

Round up to a whole batch so you make enough to cover the remaining par. Three batches make only 4,800 ml, which is 200 ml short of the 5,000 ml you need. If you have more on hand than par, make nothing. If the recipe scales well, you can also make a smaller batch to the exact amount, at the same ratios.

One batch of lime juice is 20 limes, pressed. At 30 ml of juice a lime, that is 600 ml. Friday needs 2,700 ml, and 2,700 ÷ 600 = 4.5, so you press 5 batches: 100 limes and 3,000 ml of juice. The exact need is 2,700 ÷ 30 = 90 limes. The extra 300 ml is the cost of making whole batches.

Do not press a whole case, the box the limes come in. One case gives about 6,000 ml of juice, more than twice what Friday needs. Pressed juice cannot wait for Saturday, so the rest of a full case would go down the drain at close.

Make after: when one item goes into another

Falernum is made with simple syrup. One batch takes 400 ml rum, 600 ml simple syrup and the zest of 6 limes, and makes 1,000 ml.

So the simple syrup par already includes the falernum's 600 ml. The drinks made with simple syrup on Friday and Saturday need 5,400 ml: 180 drinks at 1 oz (30 ml) each. Add 600 ml for the falernum and the par is 6,000 ml.

This is why the falernum row says "Simple syrup" under Make after: make the syrup first and let it cool. To scale any other spec to one batch, use the batch cocktail calculator.

Setting par for each service

On a prep list, par is what the nights ahead will pour: the drinks you expect times the amount of the item in each drink. The syrup par above, 180 drinks × 1 oz (30 ml), works this way.

With a forecast, take the drinks per night from the forecast. Then split them across the menu by how each drink sold on the same day of the week over the last four weeks.

Without a forecast, use your POS item report. For each drink, take the average count on that same day over the last four weeks. Then add drinks for bookings and events.

Never make more of an item than you will pour before it expires. Syrup not poured within its 7 days goes down the sink on day 8. Juice goes at close. Take each item's keeps figure from the shelf-life chart. Use the shorter of your house rule and any legal limit.