Updated July 2026.
These are IBA specs, not a 40-drink tasting we invented. One US standard drink is 0.6 fl oz (14 g) ethanol — a 1.5-ounce shot of 40% spirit. An IBA Margarita (50 ml tequila + 20 ml 40% triple sec) is about 1.6 drinks. An IBA Old Fashioned (45 ml whiskey) is about one drink at 40% and 1.13 at 45%. Count the pour, not the glass name.
Bars often use 2-ounce whiskey pours. That is not the IBA line. Hours to buy the bottle are state law, not closing time at your bar — start with gas-station hours. Related: bourbon Old Fashioned, margarita tequila.
Five IBA builds and the math
| Drink (IBA) | Spirit | ~Standard drinks if spirit is 40%* |
|---|---|---|
| Old Fashioned — 45 ml whiskey, sugar, Angostura | Bourbon or rye | ~1.0 (1.13 at 45%) |
| Margarita — 50 ml 100% agave tequila, 20 ml triple sec, 15 ml lime | Blanco tequila | ~1.13 + triple sec (~0.45 if Cointreau 40%) |
| Negroni — 30 ml gin + 30 ml Campari + 30 ml sweet vermouth | Gin | Gin ~0.68; Campari ~24% adds more — do the labels |
| Manhattan — 50 ml rye, 20 ml sweet vermouth, 1 dash bitters | Rye | ~1.13 + vermouth (~0.2 if 18%) |
| Daiquiri — 60 ml white Cuban ron, 20 ml lime, 2 bar spoons sugar | White rum | ~1.36 |
*Ethanol ml ÷ 17.7 ≈ US standard drinks. Campari, vermouth, and triple sec are not zero. Four IBA Margaritas are about 6.4 drinks. NIAAA binge pattern is a health line, not a target. IBA “101 Cocktails 2026” is a book; the numbers above are the public IBA pages we fetched. Dash: dash of bitters. Vodka soda math: vodka tonic.
Sources
- IBA Old Fashioned, Margarita, Negroni, Manhattan, Daiquiri pages (fetched 2026).
- NIAAA standard drink (December 2025). 27 CFR spirit identities as cited on the linked pages.
- No invented “40 best” scores or MSRPs.
More from Liquor Laboratory
Old 2023 crawl: 122 internal links off this hub. 2026 pass — only slugs that already exist:
- Builds: bourbon for an Old Fashioned, tequila for a Margarita, blanco for a Margarita, orange liqueur, triple sec, Manhattan bitters, sweet vermouth, Manhattan whiskey, bourbon Manhattan, Negroni gin, Negroni vermouth, gin and tonic.
- Math: mL in a shot, dash of bitters, alcohol in a margarita, how many shots, shots to order, bourbon cocktails at home.
- Spirit hubs: whiskey, bourbon, tequila, gin, rum, vodka.