Ounces, mL, dashes, barspoons, dashes per dash. Decoded.
Cocktail recipes are the worst-converted unit set in cooking. American books use ounces. British books use mL. Tiki books use parts. Old books use jiggers, ponies, and dashes. Bartenders shorthand “30/15/15”. This page is the bridge.
The standard pours, in every unit
| Bartender’s term | mL | Ounces | Common name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pony | 15 mL | 0.5 oz | Half-shot, small jigger side |
| Single / shot | 30 mL | 1 oz | Australian standard nip |
| Standard pour (US) | 45 mL | 1.5 oz | Most US recipes |
| Double / “two oz” | 60 mL | 2 oz | Modern stirred drinks |
| Barspoon | 5 mL | ~1 tsp | For sugar, syrups |
| Dash (bitters) | ~1 mL | ~1/8 tsp | From a bitters bottle, one shake |
| Splash / float | 10-15 mL | ~0.5 oz | Visual estimate |
The Australian jigger
A standard double-sided jigger sold in Australia is 30mL on the big side, 15mL on the small. This matches the Australian “standard nip” of 30mL (the legal pour size in licensed venues). It does not match the American 1 oz / 1.5 oz jigger, which is 30mL / 45mL.
If you are following an American cocktail recipe and your jigger is the Australian 30/15, just convert: a US “1.5 oz” pour is one-and-a-half-jiggers (45mL). A US “2 oz” pour is two-and-two-thirds jiggers (60mL). It is faster to buy a 45mL jigger if you make American cocktails often.
“Parts” notation (tiki books)
Trader Vic’s Mai Tai recipe says “2 parts rum, 1 part orange curacao, 0.5 part orgeat, 0.5 part fresh lime, 0.25 part rock candy syrup”. A part is whatever unit you choose, applied consistently. If you pick 30mL as your part, the Mai Tai becomes 60mL rum, 30mL curacao, 15mL each of orgeat and lime, 7.5mL rock candy. This scales infinitely. Two-times-parts gives you a doubled drink.
Glassware capacity
| Glass | Capacity | Common drinks |
|---|---|---|
| Coupe | 150-180 mL | Daiquiri, Martini, Manhattan up |
| Martini glass | 180-240 mL | Martini, Cosmopolitan, Vesper |
| Old Fashioned (rocks) | 250-300 mL | Old Fashioned, Negroni, Mezcal Margarita |
| Highball | 300-360 mL | G&T, Mojito, Mule, Paloma |
| Collins | 360-400 mL | Tom Collins, Long Island |
| Wine glass | 300 mL | Aperol Spritz, Hugo |
| Hurricane / tiki | 400-600 mL | Pina Colada, Mai Tai, Painkiller |
Building drinks: how much liquid in a finished cocktail
A balanced cocktail finishes around 150mL of pre-dilution ingredients plus 30-50mL of melted ice from shaking or stirring. Total: 180-200mL into a coupe (with a dry shake, more ice melt). 240-260mL into a rocks glass over a fresh ice cube. 360mL+ into a highball over crushed ice with topper.
If your cocktail is overflowing the glass before you’ve added ice, you have over-poured. Cut everything by 25% and try again.
For the syrup side of the equation, see our simple syrup how-to.