Strength and dilution
There is no chilling without dilution and no dilution without chilling. The water is part of the recipe whether or not the recipe mentions it.
- Water in20 ml
- Finished110 ml
- Strength24.6%
20–25%. Around 30 seconds in a mixing glass with cubed ice.
The figures are the standard working ranges rather than a formula. There is a published model that predicts dilution from the finishing temperature, but a tool that asks how cold your shaker got is not a useful tool.
How strong is it
Add each pour and its strength. Percentages do not average, so this sums the actual alcohol rather than the labels.
Strength and standard drinks
As built
27.0%
90 ml
As served
22.1%
110 ml
Standard drinks
1.92
10 g each
Pure alcohol
19.2 g
in the glass
A standard drink in New Zealand is 10 g of pure alcohol. Dilution changes the strength but not the number of standard drinks - the alcohol is all still there.
A New Zealand standard drink is 10 g of pure alcohol. Ethanol weighs 0.789 g per millilitre, so a 30 ml pour of a 40% spirit works out at 0.95 of one - the figure worth sanity-checking against.
Dilution changes the strength but not the count. The alcohol is all still in the glass; there is just more water around it. That is why these two sit on one page: a diluted drink is weaker and not one unit safer.
The ice chapter covers why a fuller glass melts more slowly, and how to freeze clear ice. Batching is where the missing water matters most.