Updated March 2026.
A 1.5-ounce (44 mL) shot of 40% (80-proof) liquor is one US standard drink (NIAAA, December 2025). The same pour at 100 proof is 1.25 drinks. How many until you feel drunk is not a number. Four of those 80-proof shots in about two hours is already NIAAA’s binge pattern for women; five for men. Warning, not a dare.
Ethanol is ethanol. A 40% shot of gin, rum, tequila, whiskey, brandy, or vodka matches a 12-ounce 5% beer and a 5-ounce 12% wine. What feels “faster” is usually the neat pour and the speed. See vodka, tequila, and whiskey.
Shot math (US 1.5 oz = 44 mL)
Standard drinks = (fl oz × ABV) ÷ 0.6. Read the label. A 50 mL mini is 1.69 oz. A restaurant double is often 3 oz.
| What’s in the glass | mL | fl oz | ABV | Std drinks / pour | Std drinks in 750 mL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US well spirits, 80 proof | 44 | 1.5 | 40% | 1.00 | ~16.9 |
| Bottled-in-bond / 100 proof | 44 | 1.5 | 50% | 1.25 | ~21.1 |
| Flavored vodka / many liqueurs | 44 | 1.5 | 30% | 0.75 | ~12.7 |
| Overproof example (unnamed) | 44 | 1.5 | 60% | 1.50 | ~25.4 |
| Bar pour that is actually 2 oz, 40% | 59 | 2.0 | 40% | 1.33 | — |
| Restaurant double, 40% | 89 | 3.0 | 40% | 2.00 | — |
| 50 mL mini, 40% | 50 | 1.69 | 40% | ~1.13 | — |
A litre of 80-proof liquor is about 22.5 shots. A handle (1.75 L) is about 39.5. That is inventory, not a weekend plan. See shots in a litre, shots in a 750 mL, and what a fifth is. Old charts that call 1 oz of 100-proof “one drink” are using a half-ounce ethanol rule. NIAAA’s unit is 0.6 fl oz: 1 oz of 50% is 0.83 drinks; 1.2 oz of 50% is one.
Why “three to five shots” is not an answer
SERP pages invent “drunk at 2–4 / 3–5 shots” and weight-to-BAC tables. That is a challenge. We will not copy it. The old version of this page assigned gin, rum, brandy, vodka, tequila, and whiskey their own intoxication counts. Most US bottles of those spirits are 40% ABV. Tequila is not “around 50%.” Brandy is not automatically 50%. If the label says 80 proof, the 1.5 oz shot is one standard drink.
Legal driving is 0.08% BAC in most US states (0.05% in Utah). Commercial drivers in a CMV are 0.04% (FMCSA). Under-21 is zero-tolerance. High-intensity drinking — eight drinks for women, ten for men, on one occasion — is a worse-warning, not a dare. Impairment starts before you feel “drunk.” Feeling fine is not a roadside test. Food slows absorption. Carbonated mixers can speed it. Four shots in ten minutes is not the same as four shots over dinner.
A common line is that the liver “absorbs one ounce of alcohol per hour.” Population averages are closer to one standard drink per hour — 0.6 fl oz of pure ethanol, not a full ounce of liquor, and not a guarantee. Water does not delete ethanol. Mixing shots with beer and then counting only the shots is how people overshoot. See beer math and how many mL is a shot.
What a “shot” actually is
- US bar default: 1.5 fl oz. Utah writes 1.5 oz into a serving rule; most other states leave pour size to the house.
- A pint-glass mixed drink can hide two shots.
- Jello shots are diluted; they are not 1.5 oz of 40% liquor unless you made them that way. See jello-shot math.
If you are going to drink shots, measure the pour, eat food, water, and do not drive. Four to five standard drinks in two hours is already binge drinking by NIAAA’s definition for many adults. More than that is not a personality. For a fifth of whiskey, see shots in a fifth of whiskey.
Sources
- NIAAA, “What Is a Standard Drink?” (December 2025): 1.5 oz of 40% spirits = 14 g / 0.6 fl oz. Binge 4/5 in ~2 hours. High-intensity 8/10 — a warning.
- CDC standard drink (December 12, 2024): 1.5 oz of 80-proof spirits (gin, rum, tequila, vodka, whiskey).
- US 0.08% illegal-per-se driving BAC (Utah 0.05%); FMCSA CMV 0.04%.
- TTB spirits labeling: read the bottled ABV. “Tequila is 50%” is not a standard of identity. US tequila class is 27 CFR 5.148 (≥40%).