Drink Scaling Formula

To scale any drink recipe up or down, multiply each ingredient by the ratio of new servings to original servings. This keeps the balance identical.

New = Base × (Want ÷ Makes)

What the terms mean

Symbol Meaning
New Scaled ingredient amount
Base Original ingredient amount
Want Servings you want
Makes Servings the recipe makes

Worked example

A punch recipe for 8 scaled to 20: each ingredient is multiplied by 20 ÷ 8 = 2.5. A 2-cup juice becomes 5 cups.

Scale everything together. Multiply every ingredient by the same factor, including ice and garnish. Scaling only some throws off the flavor balance.

See the Drink Batch Calculator and the Party Drinks Calculator.

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