In the United States, a shot is usually 1½ fluid ounces, about 44 milliliters. That is the pour the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism uses for one standard drink of 80 proof spirits, and the amount a standard bar jigger holds in its larger cup. No federal rule fixes the size of a shot, so pours run from a 1-ounce pony to a 3-ounce double, and a state can set a limit of its own, as Utah does.
Below: shot sizes from the pony to the double, a shot in milliliters and tablespoons, how many shots are in a fifth, a 750 ml bottle and a 1.75 liter handle, what a shot glass really holds, and how a shot counts as a standard drink.
| Ounces | Milliliters | Tablespoons | Standard drinks at 80 proof | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pony | 1 oz | 30 ml | 2 | Two thirds |
| Shot | 1½ oz | 44 ml | 3 | One |
| Double (two 1½-ounce shots) | 3 oz | 89 ml | 6 | Two |
How much is a shot? Pony, single and double
A shot is a measure of spirits, not a legal unit. The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as a small amount of liquor, "usually between 1 and 1 ½ ounces" (American Heritage Dictionary), and American bars have settled on the top of that range. A jigger, the bar's measuring cup, was commonly taken to hold 2 ounces until Prohibition and has typically been read as 1½ ounces since the late twentieth century, as Wikipedia's entry on the shot glass records. The same entry notes that the United States has no official size for a single shot, with one exception, Utah.
The smaller measure is the pony: "usually one ounce (29.6 milliliters)," in Dictionary.com's definition. A double is two shots in one glass, so 3 ounces at a bar whose shot is 1½, and 2 ounces where the house pour is 1 ounce. The size of a double is the bar's choice, and so is the size of its single, which is why the same order can arrive as different amounts in different places.
How many ml in a shot?
About 44. A US fluid ounce is 29.57 milliliters, by the conversion factor the National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes, so a 1½-ounce shot is 44.4 milliliters, a 1-ounce pony 29.6 and a 3-ounce double 88.7. Rounded, that is 45, 30 and 90. In tablespoons, a shot is exactly three, because the US tablespoon is half a fluid ounce, 14.8 milliliters. Three level tablespoons are a fair stand-in when there is no jigger on hand.
Outside the United States, a shot is set in milliliters, and sometimes by law. In Great Britain, gin, rum, vodka and whiskey sold by the glass must be served in 25 or 35 milliliters or multiples of them, with a notice on display saying which measure the bar uses, under article 3 of the Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988. A British single of 25 milliliters is 0.85 US fluid ounces, a little over half an American shot, and 35 milliliters is 1.18 ounces. The rule stops at mixed drinks: a spirit poured into a mixture of three or more liquids is exempt.
Is there a legal size for a shot?
Not at the federal level. Federal rules decide what sizes a bottle of spirits may come in, and a federal institute defines the standard drink, but the pour across the bar is left to custom and to the states. Utah writes its number into law. A licensed bar or restaurant there may serve a drink's main spirit only in a quantity of up to 1½ ounces, poured through a calibrated, metered dispensing system, and while a cocktail may add spirits labeled as flavorings, a guest may have no more than 2½ ounces of spirits at a time, under Utah Code 32B-5-304.
Why 1½ ounces? The shot as a standard drink
In the United States, one standard drink holds about 0.6 fluid ounces, or 14 grams, of pure alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. That is the alcohol in 12 ounces of regular beer at 5 percent, in 5 ounces of wine at 12 percent, and in "a 1.5-ounce shot glass of distilled spirits at 40% alcohol by volume," in the institute's own words. So a 1½-ounce shot of 80 proof gin, vodka, rum or whiskey is one standard drink. The institute presents the measure as a way to understand how much alcohol you are drinking, and notes that standard drinks may not match the servings a bar customarily pours.
The match is exact at 1½ ounces and 80 proof. A bigger pour or a stronger spirit holds more: 1½ ounces at 45 percent alcohol is about 1.1 standard drinks, a 2-ounce pour at 80 proof about 1.3, and a 3-ounce double at 80 proof two. The arithmetic is the same for any glass: multiply the ounces by the alcohol percentage and divide by 0.6. What proof means, and why gin starts at 40 percent, is in how strong is gin.
In a mixed drink, the count follows the spirit, not the size of the glass. A gin and tonic, a gin and soda or a gin and juice built on 1½ ounces of 80 proof gin is one standard drink whatever the mixer, as what to mix with gin works through. Calories follow the alcohol the same way, and the figures shot by shot are in how many calories are in gin.
How many shots are in a bottle?
Divide the bottle by the pour. A 750 milliliter bottle holds 25.4 fluid ounces, which is about 17 shots of 1½ ounces or 25 pours of 1 ounce. At 80 proof, each 1½-ounce shot is one standard drink, so the shots column below doubles as a count of standard drinks; a bottle at 90 proof holds about an eighth more.
| Bottle | Fluid ounces | 1½-ounce shots | 1-ounce pours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 ml miniature | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.7 |
| 200 ml | 6.8 | 4.5 | 6.8 |
| 375 ml | 12.7 | 8.5 | 12.7 |
| 750 ml | 25.4 | 16.9 | 25.4 |
| Fifth (757 ml, before 1980) | 25.6 | 17.1 | 25.6 |
| 1 liter | 33.8 | 22.5 | 33.8 |
| 1.75 liters (handle) | 59.2 | 39.4 | 59.2 |
Those are not all the sizes there are. Federal rules authorize 25 standard sizes for a bottle of spirits, from 50 milliliters to 3.75 liters, including 700 milliliters, 750 milliliters, 1 liter and 1.75 liters (27 CFR 5.203). Every one of them is metric.
How many shots in a handle?
About 39. A handle is the 1.75 liter bottle, sometimes called a metric half gallon. It holds 59.2 fluid ounces, so 39 pours of 1½ ounces or 59 of 1 ounce.
How many shots in a fifth or a 750 ml bottle?
About 17 in either. A fifth is a fifth of a US gallon: 25.6 fluid ounces, or about 757 milliliters, which comes to 17 shots of 1½ ounces. The 750 milliliter bottle that replaced it holds 25.4 fluid ounces, about 1 percent less, and still comes to about 17.
The fifth was the usual American liquor bottle until 1980. In the late nineteenth century, spirits were often sold in bottles that looked like a quart but held less, and were called fifths or short quarts. In 1975 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms proposed metric bottle sizes to take effect in January 1979, with a year in which both sets of sizes were legal, and the 750 milliliter bottle took the fifth's place, as Wikipedia's entry on the fifth sets out. It is sometimes called a metric fifth.
How big is a shot glass?
As big as its maker decided. A shot glass is named for what it serves, not for a volume: a small glass "that holds a shot of liquor," in the American Heritage Dictionary's definition, and since a shot itself varies, so do the glasses. The standard one is 1½ ounces, the size the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism pictures as "a 1.5-ounce shot glass," but glasses holding an ounce, 2 ounces or more are sold under the same name.
Unless a glass has a line marked on it, the brim is not a measure. The way to know what a shot glass holds is to measure it once: pour in three tablespoons of water, or a full 1½-ounce jigger, and see where it reaches. That line is your shot.
Gatsby Gin is a London Dry gin of ten botanicals, made in small batches in a copper pot still in Fort Myers, Florida, and the drinks in this Journal are measured in ounces. Our gin and tonic starts from a single 1½-ounce shot of gin with 4½ ounces of tonic, one part to three, and the full method is in how to make a gin and tonic, Gatsby style. More house drinks are on our cocktails page.
Frequently asked questions about shots
How many ounces are in a shot?
In the United States, a shot is usually 1½ fluid ounces, about 44 milliliters. There is no federal definition, but Utah limits a drink's main spirit to 1½ ounces.
How many ml are in a shot?
About 44 milliliters in a 1½-ounce American shot, and about 30 in a 1-ounce pony. In Great Britain, a single is 25 or 35 milliliters by law.
How many shots are in a fifth?
About 17 shots of 1½ ounces. A fifth is a fifth of a gallon, 25.6 fluid ounces or about 757 milliliters, and the 750 milliliter bottle that replaced it in 1980 also holds about 17.
How many shots are in a 750 ml bottle?
About 17 shots of 1½ ounces, or 25 pours of 1 ounce. At 80 proof, that is about 17 standard drinks.
How many ounces are in a 750 ml bottle?
25.4 US fluid ounces. A US fluid ounce is 29.57 milliliters.
How many shots are in a handle?
About 39 shots of 1½ ounces. A handle is a 1.75 liter bottle, which holds 59.2 fluid ounces.
How many ounces are in a double shot?
Twice the house pour: 3 ounces where a shot is 1½ ounces, and 2 ounces where it is 1 ounce.
What is a pony shot?
A 1-ounce pour, about 30 milliliters. It is two thirds of a standard 1½-ounce shot.
How many tablespoons are in a shot?
Three. A US tablespoon is half a fluid ounce, so three level tablespoons make a 1½-ounce shot.
Is a shot one standard drink?
A 1½-ounce shot of 80 proof spirits is one US standard drink, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. A bigger pour or a stronger spirit holds more.
How big is a shot glass?
There is no fixed size. The standard American shot glass holds 1½ ounces, but glasses of 1 ounce, 2 ounces or more are sold under the same name, so measure one before relying on it.
