new era · shaken
Three Dots and a Dash recipe
A Donn Beach tiki classic — rum, citrus, falernum and honey.
A Three Dots and a Dash is 45 ml (42.3 g) Aged Rum, 15 ml (15.5 g) Fresh Lime Juice, 15 ml (15.6 g) Orange Juice, 15 ml (15.8 g) Falernum, 10 ml (12 g) Honey Syrup and 1 ml (1 g) Angostura Bitters, shaken and served in a hurricane glass. It pours to about 101 ml before ice, at roughly 19.9% ABV. Weighing the ingredients instead of measuring them is what keeps the balance identical from one round to the next.
- Glasshurricane glass
- Methodshaken
- Pour volume101 ml
- Strength (est.)19.9% ABV
- Time6 min
Three Dots and a Dash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aged Rum | 45 ml | 42.3 g | 0.94 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Fresh Lime Juice | 15 ml | 15.5 g | 1.03 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Orange Juice | 15 ml | 15.6 g | 1.04 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Falernum | 15 ml | 15.8 g | 1.05 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Honey Syrup | 10 ml | 12 g | 1.20 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Angostura Bitters | 1 ml | — | 0.98 | 1 dash |
How to make a Three Dots and a Dash
- Set your hurricane 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.
- Add Aged Rum, Fresh Lime Juice, Orange Juice, Falernum, Honey Syrup and Angostura Bitters to a shaker, weighing each ingredient rather than eyeballing a jigger.
- Fill with ice and shake hard for 12–15 seconds.
- Double-strain into a chilled hurricane glass.
Three Dots and a Dash: the questions people actually ask
How strong is a Three Dots and a Dash?
Roughly 19.9% ABV as poured, before the ice dilutes it — typically another 15–25% water by the time you finish stirring or shaking. Medium strength. About the same as a fortified wine, poured short.
What glass should a Three Dots and a Dash be served in?
A hurricane glass. Fill it with fresh ice, not the ice you mixed with.
Can I make a Three Dots and a Dash 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 Three Dots and a Dash is weighed.
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