🧊 Cocktail Dilution Guideline Reference

A quick reference for how much ice dilution typically happens during mixing, depending on technique.

Reading the percentages correctly

Every figure on this page is a share of the final volume, not of what you poured. That changes the arithmetic, because the water you add is also part of the total you are taking a percentage of:

final volume = poured volume / (1 - dilution)
water added  = final volume - poured volume
final ABV    = poured ABV × (1 - dilution)

Stir a 3 oz Martini at 22% dilution and the final volume is 3 / 0.78 = 3.85 oz, so 0.85 oz of ice melted in - not the 0.66 oz you would get by taking 22% of the 3 oz you poured. That Martini leaves the bottle at 36.3% and arrives in the glass at 28.3%.

What moves a drink within its range

Ice temperature. Cubes from a busy freezer sit near 0 °C and are already wet, so they melt fast. Colder, dry ice chills with less melting.
Cube size. Small or cracked ice has far more surface area and dilutes quickly, which is why one large cube suits an Old Fashioned you intend to drink slowly.
Energy, not just time. Shaking beats a spirit against ice and reaches the high end of its range in 12 seconds; stirring takes 30 to move half as far.

Ranges are a starting point, not a measurement. To learn your own numbers, weigh the mixing glass with the drink in it before and after chilling. A gram of water is a millilitre, so the difference in grams is the dilution you actually got.

Frequently asked questions

How much water does shaking a cocktail add?

25-35% of the finished drink for a normal 10-15 second shake. On a 3 oz sour that is roughly 1.1 to 1.6 oz of water.

Why do stirred and shaken drinks dilute differently?

Shaking smashes ice against the liquid and breaks off fragments, exposing far more surface in far less time. Stirring only moves the liquid past intact cubes, so it chills more gently and adds less water.

Can I skip the ice and add water instead?

Yes, and it is how batched cocktails are made. Add the water the technique would have contributed, then chill the bottle. You lose the aeration a shake gives, so it suits stirred drinks far better than sours.