Cocktail ABV calculator
Calculate a cocktail's ABV after shaking or stirring. Enter your ingredients, choose the dilution and see the strength in the glass, including US proof. You can also calculate how much water to add to a batch to reach your target ABV.
How to calculate cocktail ABV
Add up the pure alcohol in each ingredient, then divide by the total drink volume, including dilution water.
Worked example: the Marlowe's Daiquiri, shaken
| Line | Amount | ABV | Alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planteray 3 Stars Rum | 60 ml | 41.2% | 24.72 ml |
| Lime juice | 22.5 ml | 0% | 0 |
| Simple syrup | 22.5 ml | 0% | 0 |
| Water, 25% of 105 ml | 26.25 ml | 0 | |
| In the glass | 131.25 ml | 24.72 ml |
24.72 ml of alcohol in 131.25 ml is 18.8% ABV. Before the shake it was 23.5%. The water from the ice takes a fifth off its strength.
Start with 25% water for a shaken drink or 20% for a stirred one, based on the undiluted recipe (how to measure your own). Real dilution moves with the ice and the time on it, so "My own amount" is there when you have measured yours. Like Jery, the calculator ignores the small shrink when alcohol and water mix.
- Sarah Dawn MarsWrote this · Head of customer success and community
Sarah co-founded and ran Teresa Cocktail Bar, a Tales of the Cocktail nominee. She was also the first customer success hire at Loaded and now builds Overproof.
Cocktail ABV questions
How much does shaking dilute a cocktail?
About 25% of the spec's volume shaken and 20% stirred, the same allowance a batch gets in the bottle; a 105 ml Daiquiri picks up about 26 ml.
What about a highball or a drink topped with soda?
Choose "Built, no dilution" and add the soda or tonic as a line at 0% ABV. Its volume brings the strength down on its own.
How do I convert ABV to proof?
In the US, proof is twice the ABV. Work it from the unrounded figure: the Daiquiri above is 18.83%, so it is 37.7 proof.
Why would Jery leave an ABV blank?
When a line has no ABV, or a weighed ingredient has no density to turn into a volume, any figure would be wrong. Jery leaves the ABV blank and names the line to fix rather than print a guess on a menu.
Does it count a house batch inside the drink?
Here, add the batch as one line with its own ABV. In Jery a house batch's ABV is worked out from its own recipe, and flows into every drink that uses it, however deep the nesting goes.
Strength on every spec and menu
In Jery the ABV, the volume in the glass and the allergens come from the spec itself, through every house batch inside it, and print on the menu. When a line has no ABV or no volume, Jery leaves the figure blank and names the line, so a guess never ends up in front of a guest.
Related tools and guides
- Batch cocktail calculatorScale any cocktail spec for the freezer or speed rail. Work out dilution water, ABV and cost per serve, with a batch card to follow.Tool · No sign-up
- Pour cost and menu price calculatorCost a cocktail ingredient by ingredient, then see its pour cost and margin at your menu price, with sales tax taken out.Tool · No sign-up
- How many shots in a bottlePours per bottle for a fifth, a liter, a handle or a 70 cl bottle at any pour, with the cost of each pour.Tool · No sign-up
- How to batch cocktails for service: dilution, ABV and costWhich drinks to batch, how to scale a spec, how much water to add, and how to check the ABV, storage and cost per serve.Guide · 14 min
- Menus & design in JeryA suggested price on every line, a design studio bound to your recipes, and a print PDF or a QR menu.Product
Print each drink's strength from its spec
Early access is free for your whole team, with no card. Founding bars keep 30% off list for 12 months on annual billing. Plans from $149 per bar a month, billed annually.