Here's How Many Shots You Can Get Out Of A 750mL Liquor Bottle

"Is it beer before liquor, or liquor before beer?" you ask as the barman slides you your Rolling Rock and well whiskey. "How many shots equals one glass of wine?" you might ask, tallying up the retroactive rap sheet the morning after an eventful night out. When questions like these arise, sippers of distinction can be fairly certain that memories are about to be made (and just as swiftly forgotten). But, wondering "how many shots can you get out of a 750mL liquor bottle" is an exercise in thrift and proactivity — and we raise our proverbial glass to your penchant for preparedness.

In the industry, 1 ½ ounces is the standard size for a shot of straight liquor. (It's worth noting that this varies depending on the country in which you happen to be imbibing; standard shots are roughly one ounce in the U.K. and two ounces in Italy). In the U.S., 1 ½ ounces of full-proof 40% ABV liquor satisfies the potency requirements for a standard drink: 14 grams of pure ethanol alcohol.

1 ½ ounces is the equivalent of 44mL. So, a 750mL bottle divided by 44mL portion sizes comes out to roughly 17 shots per bottle. For entertaining, keep your party size (and vibe) in mind to know whether one bottle will be enough to pour everyone a celebratory toast, or whether guests might be ripping a few more shots throughout the night.

It's also worth mentioning that 1 ½ ounces is the standard pour for classic 80-proof liquors like rum, whiskey, bourbon, vodka, gin, and tequila. This also includes some stronger liqueurs like Fernet. Shots of higher-proof spirits with bolder flavor palettes like Chartreuse, grappa, absinthe, and overproof mezcals and rums should be 1 ounce or less (which comes out to 25 shots per 750mL bottle). On the flip side, lower-proof aperitifs like Aperol and Campari are typically served in closer to two-ounce pours (8-9 servings per 750mL bottle).

One of the first skills that any novice bartender learns is getting the knack for eyeballing a consistent shot pour. At high-end cocktail establishments, shots are carefully measured in a jigger every time before being added into a shaker or stirring glass. Here, a shot of liquor is an ingredient, one of many parts, the sum of which is a perfectly-balanced cocktail. At your favorite local dive bar, a shot is a shot — an entity unto itself. There's no need to worry about balance here, but the pours do need to be consistent. On that note, just as you can batch cocktails, you can batch shots for easy entertaining (and helping ensure more consistent servings as the night wears on). In this case, when batching, break out the jigger to measure the right number of 1 ½-ounce pours to make delicious, controlled artisanal Jell-O shots or crowd-pleasing green tea and white tea shots.