Methodology and sources
Recipes
Each recipe is a widely used modern specification of the drink, written in millilitres in steps of 7.5 ml (a quarter of an ounce) wherever possible. Where the historical recipe differs a lot, the drink's page says so. Recipes are facts and are not copied from any one source; every description, method and note is written for this site.
Ounces. The ml / oz switch uses the bar convention of 30 ml to the ounce (a US fluid ounce is 29.57 ml) and rounds to the nearest eighth of an ounce; amounts under 7.5 ml are shown in teaspoons. Finished volumes in ounces use the exact factor.
Generic ingredients. Ingredients are named by type, not brand. Only products with no generic equivalent (green and yellow Chartreuse, Bénédictine, Drambuie) are named. Drinks whose names are registered trademarks of a drinks company are not included.
History
Every drink separates Documented history (contemporary records: dated books, newspapers, menus, a creator's own account close to the time) from Legend and lore. Disputed points are marked. Primary sources are the public-domain bar books listed on the history page, notably Jerry Thomas (1862), Harry Johnson (1882), Hugo Ensslin (1916) and Harry Craddock (1930; public domain in the US since 2026). Where we rely on later research into newspapers and menus, we say "usually cited" or "reported". We quote no copyrighted text.
Strength estimates
Bottle strengths are typical label values for each kind of bottle; the spread on the shelf is listed on each primer. Water from ice uses Dave Arnold's published dilution fits for shaken and stirred drinks (Liquid Intelligence, W. W. Norton, 2014), quoted as formulas; the built (10%) and blended (75%) allowances are our own rough assumptions. Full method and a worked example: strength estimator.
We could not compare the coefficients against a copy of the book itself, so we check the outputs instead: finished strengths of the core classics against the ranges Arnold reports (stirred drinks about 21–29% ABV, shaken about 15–20%), below.
Drawings
Every illustration is an original SVG drawn by this site's build script from the recipe: glass shape, fill level from the computed volume, ice, colour, foam and garnish. No photographs are used, so nothing is borrowed.
Legal definitions cited
- EU spirit drink categories (gin, vodka, liqueur minimums): Regulation (EU) 2019/787.
- EU aromatised wine (vermouth strength): Regulation (EU) No 251/2014.
- American whiskey (bourbon, rye): US Code of Federal Regulations, 27 CFR Part 5 (US government work).
- Tequila: Mexican standard NOM-006-SCFI-2012. Cognac age statements: the Cognac appellation rules (BNIC).
Validation
The build stops if any of these checks fails. Results from this build:
| Check | Our result | Expected | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 ml in oz | 2 oz | 2 oz | ✓ |
| 45 ml in oz | 1½ oz | 1½ oz | ✓ |
| 22.5 ml in oz | ¾ oz | ¾ oz | ✓ |
| 7.5 ml in oz | ¼ oz | ¼ oz | ✓ |
| 15 ml in oz | ½ oz | ½ oz | ✓ |
| 5 ml in oz | 1 tsp | 1 tsp | ✓ |
| 52.5 ml in oz | 1¾ oz | 1¾ oz | ✓ |
| Daiquiri, shaken (60 rum 40%, 22.5 lime, 22.5 syrup) | 15.0% ABV, 160 ml | 15–20% ABV | ✓ |
| Whiskey Sour, shaken, no egg (60 bourbon 45%, 22.5 lemon, 22.5 syrup) | 16.6% ABV, 162 ml | 15–20% ABV | ✓ |
| Manhattan, stirred (60 rye 50%, 30 sweet vermouth, 2 dashes) | 26.8% ABV, 132 ml | 21–29% ABV | ✓ |
| Old Fashioned, stirred (60 bourbon 45%, 5 rich syrup, 2 dashes) | 28.6% ABV, 97 ml | 21–29% ABV | ✓ |
| Dry Martini, stirred (60 gin 43%, 15 dry vermouth) | 26.2% ABV, 108 ml | 21–29% ABV | ✓ |
| 25 ml of 40% spirit | 1.0 UK unit, 7.9 g | 1 UK unit (10 ml, 7.9 g ethanol) | ✓ |
| 1.5 US fl oz (44.4 ml) of 40% spirit | 1.0 US standard drinks | 1 US standard drink (14 g) | ✓ |
Every drink file is also checked at build time: each ingredient, glass and garnish must exist in the shared vocabulary, and every finished volume is compared with its glass's capacity.
Updates
The site rebuilds weekly. It was last built on 2026-10-31.