Technique
How to measure cocktails without a jigger
The most accurate way to measure a cocktail without a jigger is a kitchen scale: stand the glass on it, tare, and pour to the weight. A 40% spirit weighs 0.94 g per ml, so a 30 ml pour is 28.2 g. Counting a free pour is the least accurate and drifts as the bottle empties.
The four options, ranked
1. A kitchen scale — the accurate one
Put the mixing glass or the serving glass directly on the scale. Press tare. Pour until the display reads your target. Press tare again and pour the next ingredient into the same glass.
This beats a jigger on both counts that matter. A scale reads to 0.1 g, finer than any jigger's markings. And there is no transfer: a jigger always keeps a film of syrup or liqueur behind, and how much depends on how viscous it is and how patiently you drained it, which is exactly the kind of invisible, variable error that makes a drink come out different every time.
The one thing to get right is the conversion. Ingredients do not weigh what they measure — a 40% ABV spirit is about 0.94 g/ml, so 30 ml is 28.2 g, while 1:1 syrup is 1.11 g/ml so 15 ml is 16.7 g. We publish the full density chart for 100 ingredients, and every one of our 124 recipes gives both numbers so you never have to do the arithmetic.
2. A South African tot measure — good enough
The standard SA tot is 25 ml, and most measures also mark 50 ml. That is fine for a spirit base and useless for the 7.5 ml and 15 ml increments that modifiers and syrups actually need. Workable if you round the recipe to fit; not workable if the recipe is a Last Word.
3. Household spoons and cups — a rough guide
A metric tablespoon is 15 ml and a teaspoon 5 ml, which covers syrups and citrus reasonably well. Use them for the small stuff and something bigger for the base spirit. Expect a few percent of error from how you level them.
| 1 teaspoon | 5 ml |
|---|---|
| 1 tablespoon | 15 ml |
| 1 SA tot | 25 ml |
| 1 US fl oz | 29.6 ml |
| Standard shot glass | usually 30 ml or 44 ml — check yours with water and a scale |
4. Counting the pour — the one to avoid
The bar trick is a four-count through a speed pourer, nominally 30 ml. It works for a professional who does it a thousand times a week with the same pourer on the same bottle. At home it fails for a specific reason: the flow rate through a pourer depends on the pressure of the liquid above it, so the same four-count gives you noticeably more from a full bottle than from a nearly empty one. It also does not work at all straight from a bottle with no pourer fitted.
How to convert any recipe to grams
Multiply the millilitres by the ingredient's density in g/ml:
- Spirits (40% ABV): × 0.94 — 60 ml is 56.4 g
- Fresh lemon or lime juice: × 1.03 — 25 ml is 25.8 g
- 1:1 simple syrup: × 1.11 — 15 ml is 16.7 g
- Sweet vermouth, Campari, Aperol: × 1.04–1.05 — 30 ml is about 31.4 g
- Agave nectar: × 1.28 — 15 ml is 19.2 g
Dashes of bitters are the exception: a dash is roughly 0.8 ml, too small to weigh reliably on a kitchen scale. Count them.
Doing it without watching a display
The catch with a scale is that you have to look at it while you pour, which means you are not looking at the glass. That is the specific problem the PourPilot coaster was built for: it is the scale, under the glass, and it tells you where you are with a ring of light instead of a number — steady as you approach, and a clear stop signal when you are there.