How Many Cocktails Can You Make In A Shaker At Once?

Make a batch of cocktails in advance for your next party, they said; it's easy, efficient, and you'll get to spend more time with your guests instead of bartending, they said. But they didn't say anything about all the mathematical adaptations (multiplying liquors down to the half ounce), equipment (glass bottles, funnels), and extra freezer space you'd need to account for. And, if your preferred libation is better shaken than stirred, you want to make as much at once as possible, which raises a question: How many cocktails can you shake together at once?

Although their capacity can vary, the typical shaker on most bars can only produce two or three cocktails at a time, depending on how conservative you're willing to be with the ice. Good news for glass half-full thinkers: That more than doubles a single drink! Not so good for half-empty personalities: That's barely a "batch" at all. To be fair, you can make a large quantity of something like freezer martinis without — gasp! — having to shake at all. The gin (or, fine, vodka), vermouth, and bit of water some people like to include (to approximate the dilution ice brings to fresh-made martinis), all mingles fine without too much agitation. But margaritas, for example, must be shaken to fully incorporate. And you might want the wide mouth a shaker provides to give your Negronis or Manhattans a good stir before bottling your batch cocktails, too.

There are a few kinds of shakers in use at your typical bar, but the cobbler variety — self-contained with a strainer and a cap — is best for home use, as it's the easiest to handle. The one on our bar right now is probably exactly what you imagine when you imagine a cocktail shaker: Shiny stainless steel with a cap that can measure a shot in a pinch, a wide opening, and a shape that tapers toward the bottom. It holds 28 ounces when filled to the brim. But you aren't going to fill a shaker to the brim when making cocktails.

Say you wanted to whip up those margaritas for a group. You first want to fill your shaker about halfway with good, fresh ice. That works out to a little more than half the contents of our favorite OXO Good Grips ice cube tray. Then, you want to add 2 ounces of tequila, 1 ounce of triple sec, and 1 ounce of fresh lime juice. That's a total of 4 ounces per drink. In our 28-ounce shaker, two drinks (totaling 8 ounces) fit quite comfortably, with plenty of room to shake. Three drinks (12 ounces) get a bit tighter, but it wouldn't be a ruinous amount in a pinch. Any more would be impossible. So do not expect to be able to scale up from there — unless you've got a great, big shaker lying around like Oggi's 60-ounce jumbo cocktail shaker, which could get you closer to batching six cocktails at once.