60+
independent bar groups
"We reset our entire menu off the September Index. It's the only pricing document in our office that isn't a year old." — Operations director, 14-location group, NYC
THE BOOBAR INDEX · ISSUE NO. 87 · NOVEMBER 2024
The pricing benchmark 60+ bar groups actually use to set their menus.
Every month, our editors collect cocktail prices from 312 independently owned bars across North America and the EU — broken out by spirit family, neighborhood, and service style — then publish the median, the spread, and the direction the market is moving. No surveys. No sponsored decks. Just receipts.
- 60+bar groups pricing off the Index
- 312bars sampled every month
- 41.2%verified newsletter open rate
HOW IT'S BUILT
How the Index is measured, sampled, and shipped each month.
No survey panels, no scraped data, no sponsored inserts. The Index is built from receipts — and rebuilt every month so bar groups can price from something that is still true on the day they read it.
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01 · SAMPLE
312 independently owned bars
Every issue samples a rotating panel of 312 cocktail bars across 14 U.S. metros and 9 European cities. Bars are weighted by service style (neighborhood, hotel, destination) so the median isn't tilted by a single rooftop.
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02 · DATA
Cocktail receipts, not menus
Field editors collect physical or POS-printed receipts during service — never public menu PDFs. We record the cocktail, the pour spec, and the price paid. Happy-hour and staff-discount prices are excluded from the medians.
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03 · CADENCE
Monthly issue, weekly update
A full Index issue ships the first Tuesday of each month. Boobar Club members receive a mid-month update flagging any category that has moved more than 4% since issue close — so pricing decisions are never a month stale.
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04 · OVERSIGHT
Reviewed by 34 head bartenders
Each issue is reviewed by the Boobar Awards judging panel — 34 head bartenders from nine countries — before publication. Categories flagged as outliers are re-sampled before the issue goes live.
SAMPLE ISSUE · OCTOBER 2024
An actual Index issue, reproduced for the page.
Median cocktail price by spirit family, October 2024
312 bars · 14 U.S. metros · 9 EU cities · USD, normalized
Agave / Tequila
$18.40
Brown / Whiskey
$15.10
Gin
$12.80
Rum
$12.20
Vermouth / Aperitif
$9.60
Non-alcoholic
$10.90
Bars sampled Oct 1–Oct 28, 2024. Median price reflects a single standard cocktail of that family, not a flight or highball variant. Full methodology in §2 of the Index PDF.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
- Median cocktail prices by spirit family and metro
- Pour-cost spread by neighborhood tier
- Six cocktails flagged as mispriced for the season
- Editor's note: agave volatility, October 2024
WHO PRICES OFF IT
The teams that build their menus and hires on the Index.
23
craft distiller partnerships
"When we brief accounts on where a new expression should land, we cite the Index. The distiller and the buyer are reading the same page." — Brand ambassador, mid-size agave house
9
hospitality recruiters
"We benchmark bartender salary asks against the Index pour-cost data. It ends the negotiation in the first call." — Head of talent, national hospitality group
34
head bartenders on the review panel
"I read the issue the morning it drops. If the Index says agave is moving, I trust the number — I know who collected it." — Bar director, two-Michelin-star hotel bar
BOOBAR CLUB
Get the Index weekly. Or license it for your whole group.
Members of the Boobar Club receive the full monthly Index plus mid-month updates when a spirit family moves more than 4%. Bar groups, distillers, and recruiters can license the dataset for menu and comp benchmarking.
Group licensing starts at $1,800 / year for up to 25 seats. Full historical archive (2014–2024) included.