[handsomechad]

Do bars really sell well liquor at a loss? I've never heard that and I can't imagine that being true just from my experience as a customer in bars.

Even if a Rum & Coke is 5 dollars (I'm used to it being more around 8-10$ on average, but being conservative), the unit economics still seem extremely profitable to me. I would think the coke from the fountain costs pennies, and the shot of (well) rum would be max one dollar.

[jmts]

The going rate for a cocktail in Sydney Australia is somewhere between $16-20 at the bars I would frequent a few years ago. Take a martini, with 3 shots (total) of gin and vermouth - 35mL shots for the math to work out. 750mL bottles of gin and vermouth will set you back about $30 each (retail), depending on the brand. With 22 shots per bottle it works out at about $1.40 per shot, and therefore $4.20 per drink. You're looking at $100 bottles of spirits before you start reaching the $16 mark for price of spirits alone.

For comparison, with beer you're looking at about $2 per beer retail ($50/24 bottles) and likely to pay $8 or more at a pub. This suggests a similar markup on beer to spirits, at least here.

Note however that a proper martini (or manhattan, old fashioned, etc) is likely to get you the best bang for buck as a consumer - all the 'fancy' drinks marketed toward women like frozen margaritas etc usually contain less alcohol but retain the same price tag.