South African cocktail · built
Rock Shandy recipe
Half lemonade, half soda, a good splash of bitters. The SA sundowner that keeps you sharp.
A Rock Shandy is 100 ml (104 g) Lemonade, 100 ml (100 g) Soda Water and 2 ml (2 g) Angostura Bitters, built and served in a highball glass. It pours to about 202 ml before ice, at roughly 0.4% ABV. Weighing the ingredients instead of measuring them is what keeps the balance identical from one round to the next.
- Glasshighball glass
- Methodbuilt
- Pour volume202 ml
- Strength (est.)0.4% ABV
- Time2 min
Rock Shandy ingredients — in millilitres and grams
Grams are what the PourPilot coaster actually targets. They are not the same as the millilitres: a spirit is lighter than water, a syrup is heavier, so 30 ml of one is never 30 g. The right-hand column is the density we use, in grams per millilitre.
| Ingredient | Volume | Weight | g/ml | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemonade | 100 ml | 104 g | 1.04 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Soda Water | 100 ml | 100 g | 1.00 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Angostura Bitters | 2 ml | — | 0.98 | 4 dashes |
How to make a Rock Shandy
- Set your highball glass on the scale (or on the PourPilot coaster) and zero it. Every measurement below is given in millilitres and in grams, so you can use either.
- Fill the highball glass with fresh ice.
- Top with Lemonade and Soda Water.
- Finish with 4 dashes of Angostura Bitters.
Rock Shandy: the questions people actually ask
How strong is a Rock Shandy?
Roughly 0.4% ABV as poured, before the ice dilutes it — typically another 15–25% water by the time you finish stirring or shaking. Long and low-strength — closer to a spritz than a spirit-forward drink.
What glass should a Rock Shandy be served in?
A highball glass. Fill it with fresh ice, not the ice you mixed with.
Can I make a Rock Shandy without a jigger?
Yes — that is what the gram column is for. Put the glass or tin on a kitchen scale, zero it, and pour to the weight. It is more accurate than a jigger because nothing is left clinging to the inside of the measure. The PourPilot coaster does the same thing without you having to watch a display: it lights up as you approach the target and tells you when to stop.
Why are some ingredients not weighed?
Dashes of bitters and rinses are too small to weigh reliably — a dash is roughly 0.8 ml, well inside the noise of any bar scale. Count them instead. Everything else in this Rock Shandy is weighed.
If you like the Rock Shandy
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The national drink — 'Klippies & Coke'. South African brandy over ice, topped with cola.
Cane & Cream Soda
Cane spirit and green cream soda — the legendary SA student combo.
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A township twist on the sunrise — vodka and orange juice over a slow-sinking grenadine dawn.
Rooibos Gin & Tonic
A Cape G&T — gin with chilled rooibos tea and tonic, warm amber and gently earthy.