Four tools for serious home bartenders and working bartenders. Compute final ABV from your build, scale a single drink to a party batch, estimate dilution from ice melt, and rebalance a sour to your preferred sugar-acid ratio.
Compute final % alcohol from your ingredient list.
Final ABV
28.0%
120ml total volume. Around a standard Negroni.
ABV is alcohol by volume. To compute the final ABV of a mixed drink, sum the absolute alcohol contributed by each ingredient (volume × ABV/100), then divide by the total volume.
Ice melt adds 25 to 35% volume of pure water (depending on shake or stir, ice quality, and shake duration). The "add 30% dilution" button gives a typical shaken or hard-stirred result. Skip it for built drinks served over a single large rock.
Reference ABVs: gin 40-47, vodka 40, vermouth 15-19, Campari 24, Aperol 11, sherry 15-22, prosecco 11, soda 0, citrus juice 0.
Scale a single-drink recipe up to 10, 20, or 50 servings for a party.
Total batch
2400ml
Use a 3L glass jug or 3x 1L bottles. Pre-dilute with 720ml water for ready-to-pour batches.
Multiply each per-drink measure by the number of servings. For pre-batched drinks served from a jug, add 25 to 30% water to account for the dilution that would normally come from shaking or stirring with ice. Refrigerate for 2 hours before service so the batch pours at the right temperature.
For batches with citrus, add the citrus and sweetener separately within 30 minutes of service. Citrus juice oxidises within 2 hours; pre-batching with citrus more than 2 hours ahead changes the flavour.
Estimate how much water enters the drink from ice melt.
Water added by ice
27ml
Final drink volume: 117ml. Dilution: 23%.
Ice melt isn't a flaw, it's the design. Cocktails are calibrated to a specific dilution level. Under-diluted drinks taste hot and harsh; over-diluted drinks taste flat. Bartenders aim for a specific target window depending on the build.
Stirred drinks (Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Negroni) want around 15-25% dilution. Shaken drinks (sours, daiquiris) want 25-35%. Built long drinks (highballs, mojitos) self-regulate via fresh ice top-ups.
Larger ice cubes melt slower. A single 5cm cube in a rocks glass adds about 10% water over 5 minutes; crushed ice adds 30% in the same time.
Rebalance a sour to your preferred sweetness or sharpness.
Recommended adjustment
Balanced
Your current build is close to the classic 3:1:1 ratio (spirit:citrus:sweet). No adjustment needed.
Almost every sour cocktail is variations on the same template: 3 parts spirit + 1 part citrus + 1 part sweetener. Daiquiri, Whisky Sour, Margarita, Bee's Knees, Gimlet all run on this ratio.
Balanced (3:1:1): the canonical sour. Bright, integrated, no dominant note.
Dry (3:1.2:0.8): more citrus, less sugar. For drinkers who find classics too sweet.
Sweet (3:0.8:1.2): more sugar, less citrus. For dessert-leaning cocktails.
Strong (4:1:1): more spirit, classic ratio. For when you want the spirit to lead more obviously.
These are quick tools for working bartenders and serious home mixers. They use standard reference values and the cocktail templates that most working bars rely on. If you find a calculation that doesn't match your house style, the values are starting points; adjust to taste.