I am not very good at math and/or formulas, so I was curious to know what the “toxicity” or alcoholic content would be of a cocktail of these proportions:
1.5 ounces Venezuelan Rum
0.5 ounces sweet vermouth
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
2 dashes orange bitters
Absinthe rinsed coupe glass
I get 60% from the rum (40% x 1.5)
12% from the vermouth
5% from the Grand Marnier
and less than 3% from the bitters & absinthe rinse
If stirred over ice, Would that still make the entire drink make 80% alcohol?
You’re thinking about the math a little backward. You need to figure out the volume of pure ethanol in each ingredient, and then determine what percentage that is of the total drink volume.
For simplicity, I’ll ignore the bitters/absinthe since the quantities are pretty small.
So .74664 oz of alcohol in 2.1666 oz total volume = ~34.5% ABV pre-stirring.
Factor in ~20% dilution from stirring and the finished drink is more like 28% ABV.
Shameless plug: the private recipe feature of Total Mixology/Total Tiki Online will estimate total alcohol and ABV for you just by plugging in the recipe. For 95%+ of recipes, this is little more than a copy/paste and button press. (In this case, one additional edit was required to handle the rinse.)
Frequent talking point that seems slightly appropriate to reiterate here: cocktail menus should tell you how much alcohol is in each cocktail.
Occasionally menus tell you the ABV. This is relevant to a guest’s sensory experience, but without knowing the total volume of the drink, they still don’t know how much alcohol they are consuming. A daiquiri with 1.5 oz of 80 proof rum is 1 “standard drink.” An equal parts Last Word with 1 oz of each ingredient is more than 2 “standard drinks.” After 2 daiquiris you’re probably under the legal limit to drive, after 2 Last Words you’re probably over, yet there’s no way for the guest to know. The math is straightforward, or for the math-averse there’s an app.
Possibly relevant: I live in Detroit where everything is far apart and public transit is actively opposed.
I agree 100%. There’s a related thread here: Indicating drink strength on drink menus
For my own personal perspectives/needs, I have a simpler system that works for me. Just count the alcoholic content. For example, if I know my limit is 3 drinks per day, and that totals 250 units by ABV. That breaks down to (for example) 1 beer @ 5% ABV x 12 fluid ounces = 60; 1 glass wine @ 14% ABV x 5 ounces = 70; 1 martini @ 40% abv x 3 ounces = 120.
All 3 of these drinks total 250 units of alcohol. That is how I know I am at my limit and know that I can go to bed and not wake up with a headache the next day. Obviously if I have only 2 Jet Pilots or Zombies, that means I CANNOT have a 3rd, but if I am drinking beer, I could have a 4th beer with no worries, but a 4th glass of wine will put me at 280 and will put my body over the limit. 3 highballs will not. Again, I just add up the total ABV per ounce and keep it within +/- 3 and I know I will be fine and headache free the next day. Yes, it totally sucks to have to count those units while on vacation and/or at a party/celebration, but that’s the deal when you are in your 50s. In my 20s and early 30s that number was probably 700 or higher, but at this stage I know its 250 and with my formula, I never wake with a headache except maybe once or twice a year around the holidays when an especially generous host pours me way more than a standard 5 ounces of wine per glass and I did not refuse. It might not be exact science, but for my needs, it is, without too much math, formulas or variables.
If your system works for you, great—stick with it—but it doesn’t really sound “simpler”. And it doesn’t address the problem that one often doesn’t know the alcohol content or ABV of what one is drinking. Erring on the side of caution is a reasonable crutch (e.g., your 40% ABV martini—not even the freezer martini at The Grill is that undiluted).
I agree. I am old enough to remember when Southern Comfort was 100 proof, now it’s 35% alcohol. Same with some “Cuban” rums at 70 proof. The martini thing is always an issue - I often ask how much they pour - 2 ounces? 3? If its gin it can be 40-47% but if its vodka its typically never going t be more than 40% - as mentioned in the last post, so many variables, so product knowledge is a prerequisite, but again, for my needs, and knowing most of those numbers, it helps me enjoy my evening without reaching for the vitamins and supplements the next day (none of which work by the way), we should address that in another thread if there isn’t already one. It’s not a hangover, it’s just a mild but annoying headache that drags on the same as the length of the day.
Ok, a more eloquent and in-depth version of what I said, ha.
On the topic, my bar, Castalia in Detroit, was the only place I’ve ever actually seen standard drinks on a menu, and I’ve got a section in my book, Cocktail Theory, discussing this as well. All recipes in the book also list the standard drinks per recipe. (Sorry the menu pic is low res)
Of course, the technical precision is appealing to me, but it ultimately comes down to @JRCX 's point: people need a system where they can wake up feeling fine. In my bar ownership days, it was also a system for me to keep track of where guests were at and avoid over-serving.
