A standard 70cl bottle of spirits pours 28 single measures of 25ml, 20 measures of 35ml, or 14 doubles of 50ml. A 1-litre bottle gives 40 singles. Drinks House 247 suggests planning cocktails at 50ml of base spirit each, which makes about 14 drinks from a 70cl bottle.
Working out how many drinks are in a bottle is straightforward once you know the size of the measure. The catch is that there are two legal pub measures in the UK, and almost nobody pours an exact measure at home.
By law, pubs, bars and restaurants in the UK must serve gin, rum, vodka and whisky in measures of either 25ml or 35ml, or multiples of them, and each venue must choose one or the other for those four spirits. Most use 25ml as a single and 50ml as a double; some use 35ml and 70ml. Other spirits, such as tequila, brandy and liqueurs, are not covered by the same rules, but most venues pour them in the same measures for simplicity.
| Bottle | Singles (25ml) | Singles (35ml) | Doubles (50ml) | UK units at 40% ABV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miniature (5cl) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Quarter bottle (20cl) | 8 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Half bottle (35cl) | 14 | 10 | 7 | 14 |
| 50cl | 20 | 14 | 10 | 20 |
| Standard (70cl) | 28 | 20 | 14 | 28 |
| Litre (1L) | 40 | 28 | 20 | 40 |
| 1.75 litres | 70 | 50 | 35 | 70 |
Figures are rounded down to whole measures. At 40% ABV, each 25ml single contains one UK unit of alcohol, which is why the unit column matches the 25ml column. Stronger spirits contain more: a 25ml measure of a 46% whisky is about 1.2 units.
Cocktails use more spirit than a single measure, and the amount depends on the drink. As a guide:
Planning at 50ml of spirit per cocktail is a sensible default for a party. It allows for the fact that home pours are rarely precise, and it errs slightly on the side of having enough.
A common planning rule is that guests have about two drinks in the first hour and one an hour after that. For a four-hour party, that makes about five drinks per guest. Not everyone will drink spirits, so split the total between wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks according to your crowd.
For example, if 30 guests each have five drinks and a third of those drinks are spirit highballs at 25ml, you need 50 highballs, or about two 70cl bottles. If the same share were cocktails at 50ml, you would need about four bottles.
A highball typically uses 100 to 150ml of mixer for every 25ml of spirit. That means one 70cl bottle of gin, at 28 singles, needs around three to four litres of tonic. Small bottles or cans stay fizzy better than large bottles, which go flat once opened. Our party alcohol calculator covers mixers and ice alongside the drinks.
Free-poured spirits are almost always larger than a pub measure. Pour an unmeasured "single" into a tumbler and it is often closer to 40 or 50ml. If you are using the table to plan, either use a jigger to measure each drink or assume that each bottle will give noticeably fewer drinks than the table shows. A jigger is also the easiest way to keep cocktails consistent and to keep track of how much everyone is drinking.
Unopened spirits keep indefinitely, and opened bottles keep well for a long time if they are sealed and stored upright away from light, so buying an extra bottle is rarely wasted. Our guide to storing tequila, whisky and gin explains how.
A 70cl bottle holds 28 single measures of 25ml, 20 measures of 35ml, or 14 doubles of 50ml.
A 1-litre bottle pours 40 singles of 25ml, 28 measures of 35ml, or 20 doubles of 50ml.
At 50ml of base spirit per cocktail, a 70cl bottle makes about 14 cocktails. Drinks that use 25ml of each spirit, such as a Negroni, make about 28 per bottle.
A 25ml measure of a 40% ABV spirit contains one UK unit of alcohol. A 35ml measure at 40% contains 1.4 units, and stronger spirits contain more.
Browse vodka, gin, blanco tequila and bourbon, or see how alcohol delivery works across London. Serving fizz as well? See how many glasses are in a bottle of champagne.
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