For the drinkers among us, the curious and the blissfully unaware, I thought it might be a good idea to deciphering some of the mysteries of those numbers you often find on the labels of the containers that deliver our ‘medicine’!!
But let’s start with the basics of “standard” drink size. Of course, this varies from country to country so I’m going to try and keep it simple (and easier for me) by referencing only India, the UK and the US. And in the spirit (got that?) of simplicity, and I know there are many other sizes and variants, will stay with the most common.
Let’s talk “Spirits” first…
In India, a ‘small’ is 30 ml a large 60 ml – it’s simple and easy. A standard bottle of spirit is 750 ml and that’s how you get 25 small pegs or 12 large pegs in the standard bottle. The extra 30 ml is for the bartender!
In the UK a small is 25 or 35 ml ( the pub or bar has the choice) and so a large is 50 or 70 ml! A standard bottle of spirit is 700 ml, and if they want to really confuse you, they will label it 70 cl!! You can work out the number of drinks…..
The US, being the US, is only 1 of 3 countries in the world (the other 2 are Liberia and Myanmar which tells you a lot!!) that still use the Imperial measures i.e. Fluid ounces. So. A single in the US is 1.5 fl. oz which is 44.3ml! But a double is anything over 2 ozs.! Which has to be said could be disappointing if it is only 2 ozs and not really a double, is it? So keep an eye out to make sure you get the real deal! Oh, and that’s 59.14 ml!!
Let’s do Wine next and again KISS is the mantra. (‘Keep It Simple Stupid for the uninformed).
A standard bottle of wine is 750 ml. There that was easy! But it is also served by the glass so here goes….BUT, don’t get taken in by the size of the glassware – the unfilled space is designed to let the wine breathe and for you to enjoy the ‘nose’ or ‘bouquet’, so don’t feel you’re being shortchanged!
In India, a glass of wine is normally 150 ml
A small glass in the UK is 125 ml, a medium, 175 ml, and a large 250 ml. Again, it’s metric and therefore easily divisible to figure out how many glasses in a bottle. Go figure, as they say!
The US standard glass of wine is 5 fl. ozs or 150 ml
The “amber brew”, need I say more? A personal favorite!
I’m not getting into the ‘the difference between beer, lager, ale” discussion (that’s another article!), so will use ‘Beer’ generically. I spent 5 years working for Associated Breweries, brewers of the famous Bombay brand of beer, London Pilsner, where my justification and qualification for employment was the quantity consumed prior to employment!
So…in India beer is typically served in bottles of 650ml and 330ml. There are a few ‘non-conformists but these are pretty standard measures. Now, ‘Draught’ or ‘beer on tap’ is served in mugs, jugs, and pillars! A mug is typical, (not sure there is a standard?) 275/330??, a jug holds 5 glasses, and a tower (should have counted before!!) 3 liters! A lot of beer!
In the UK, it’s a lot simpler, the standard measure is a ‘pint’ which is 568 ml, effectively the equivalent of the old Imperial Pint of 20 ozs. gone metric! A half-pint – 294 ml is the other option and in some rare instances, pubs still offer a ‘third’ which is 187 ml!! Take my advice, stick to pints, easier to count, and a lot more satisfying!
We have come to expect the US will be different and we are never disappointed, are we? The American pint is 16 fl. ozs or 473 ml in our language! And let’s leave it at that!
So, there you have it. A vague idea of how much you can expect to be served for your money! And when you try this at home, you are going to be quite disappointed at how little is in your glass but you can feel so much happier knowing you haven’t paid restaurant or bar prices!!
In my next post, I will be talking about how much real “alcohol” there is in the glass and what the code numbers on the label actually mean!
Cheers, salud, skal and Chok dee! That’s British, Spanish, Scandinavian, and Thai!
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Alan is, in his own words, a born again foodie! An Alumni of the 1979 batch of the Bombay catering college, Alan spent the first 5 years after graduating in the hospitality industry, starting with the Taj group of Hotels. Many a shift later, Alan decided he wanted to see life outside the hotel too and left for what can only be described as a chequered career across the music industry, advertising, media, a brewery and finally in eLearning.
Alan lives in London (UK) and is now reconnecting with his first love – food – through the Travel and Food Network.
