[DeTomaso] Cost of drinks at the Fun Rally.

[msm at portata.com]

The myth about the cost of drinks at the Fun Rally keeps coming up.
 
To clarify - the cost of the open bar is only a small fraction of the overall event cost.  If we eliminated the open bar or went ala carte, the event cost would drop only slightly, but the individual costs would rise dramatically even for non-drinkers.

Of course, we certainly do not want to encourage the consumption of alcohol, but we should make informed decisions about the costs.

A bit of background: there are three ways a hotel can charge for drinks.  There is a cash bar where every individual pays for his or her drinks which can range from around $3 for water to $8 for mixed drinks.  There is a hosted bar, where the bartender keeps track of every drink then bills the host for the total amount.  The third way is to have a corkage deal where we buy our drinks in bulk (e.g. Costco) then pay a 30% corkage fee to the hotel and hire the bartenders by the hour.  

The corkage deal keeps our costs way down.  For example, a 1.75 liter bottle of Jose runs less than 50 cents per oz.  With mixer, cup, ice and 30 seconds of the bartender's time, our costs are around a dollar for a mixed drink.  The same deal applies for the bulk-purchased water, soft drinks, beer, and wine.

With the corkage deal, the cost for the open bar works out to be about $7 per person per day.  This works out to be a little over $1,500 per day for the group.  

If we went with the hosted bar, the cost to the group would be pushing $10,000 per day, so that way is not viable.

The argument could be made the cash bar way would save non-drinkers the $7 cost, but that is a false economy.  If someone buys a couple of bottles of water or a couple of soft drinks at $3 a piece, they are not saving much in reality.  With three or more bottles of water or soft drinks, they would actually be loosing money.