Bart
Cocktail Ratios and Measurements
The five ratios behind most classic cocktails, plus an oz to ml conversion table and why the jigger matters more than the bottle.
Memorise five ratios and you can build most classic cocktails from any set of bottles, without looking anything up.
The five
| Template | Ratio | Method | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sour | 2 spirit : 1 citrus : 0.75 sweet | Shake | Daiquiri, Margarita |
| Old Fashioned | 2 spirit : 0.25 syrup : 2 dashes bitters | Stir | Old Fashioned |
| Martini family | 2 spirit : 1 vermouth | Stir | Martini, Manhattan |
| Equal parts | 1 : 1 : 1 | Stir | Negroni, Last Word |
| Highball | 2 spirit : 4 mixer | Build | Gin & Tonic |
Shake or stir
Shake anything cloudy — citrus, egg, cream, juice. Shaking aerates and chills fast.
Stir anything clear — spirit and vermouth only. Stirring chills without clouding or over-diluting. 15 to 20 seconds.
Conversions
| Imperial | Millilitres | Also called |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 oz | 7.5 ml | Bar spoon |
| 1/2 oz | 15 ml | Pony |
| 3/4 oz | 22.5 ml | — |
| 1 oz | 30 ml | — |
| 1 1/2 oz | 45 ml | Jigger |
| 2 oz | 60 ml | Double |
| 1 dash | ~0.8 ml | — |
Buy a jigger
Free-pouring is the second most common reason a home cocktail tastes wrong, after warm ice. A sour is a balance, and being half an ounce heavy on the citrus turns a Daiquiri into lime juice with rum in it. A jigger costs almost nothing and fixes it permanently.
Dilution is an ingredient
A properly made cocktail is roughly 20 to 25 per cent water by the time it reaches the glass. That is deliberate. Under-diluted drinks taste harsh; that is why a Martini stirred for five seconds is unpleasant and one stirred for twenty is not.
Every recipe, already measured
Bart carries exact quantities for all 210 recipes, so you never have to remember a ratio.