How Many Servings Are in One Bottle of Absinthe?

Absinthe can be a very expensive liquor when you compare it to the cost of other types of spirits and alcoholic beverages. Before people spend their money at a shop or online, they want to know how many servings are in one bottle of Absinthe.

How Many Servings Are in One Bottle of Absinthe?

This all depends on the size of your servings and the size of your bottle of Absinthe. Like many spirits and alcoholic beverages, Absinthe is usually served in shots, but unlike other types of alcohol it is usually diluted with iced water. If you are serving your Absinthe in the traditional way using “The Ritual”, or La Louche, then you will be pouring a shot of Absinthe into an Absinthe glass and then diluting it with sugar and water, but how big is a shot?

A shot means different amounts in different countries. A US shot is 1.5 fluid ounces or 45ml, a UK shot is 25ml, in Australia it is 30ml and in Germany and Finland a shot is 20ml.

Let’s base the answer to this question on buying a standard 70cl bottle of Absinthe and using a US shot – much more generous than the UK shot!

If a shot is 45ml and my bottle is 700ml then the math I use is 700 divided by 45 which equals 15.55. I will therefore get 15 full shots of Absinthe from my 70cl bottle.

If we are not so generous, or we want to make our Absinthe last longer, we can use a UK shot. 700ml divided by 25ml equals 28 shots.

The Bohemian or Czech Method of serving Absinthe is just like the Ritual except that the sugar is first soaked in the Absinthe and then set alight before the water is dripped over. The same amount of Absinthe is used.

But what if I am only using my Absinthe in cocktails?

Again, this all depends on how much you are using at a time. Let us look at the recipe for the New Orleans cocktail, the Sazerac:-

Sazerac
1 teaspoon of Absinthe
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 ½ ounces of rye whisky
3 dashes of Angostura bitters
Ice cubes

Instructions for making a Sazerac – Freeze a cocktail glass in the freezer then pour the Absinthe into it, swilling it around to let it coat the inside of the glass.
Put the remaining ingredients into a cocktail shaker, shake and pour into the glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon and drink.

We are just using 1 teaspoon of Absinthe at a time. So, if we are only using our Absinthe to make Sazeracs then our math is 700ml divided by 5ml which equals 140 servings. Wow, you can make 140 Sazeracs with your bottle of Absinthe.

Ok, so a standard bottle of Absinthe will give us 15 US shots. So, Absinthe does work out quite expensive then, seeing as it can cost upwards of $50 per bottle. Are there any tips for saving money on Absinthe? Yes. AbsintheKit.com sell Absinthe essences which are made by distilling alcohol with the traditional Absinthe herbs – wormwood, aniseed and fennel. A 20ml bottle of Absinthe essence, when added to 730ml of Everclear or vodka, will make 750ml of Absinthe.
750ml divided by 45ml = 16.6

An extra serving because it makes 750ml. This is great news if we consider that 20ml of essence only costs $3.95 (a kit to make 14 bottles costs $29), the only extra we have to buy is the Everclear or vodka. There are no skills to learn, you simply mix the essence with the neutral alcohol and you have a great tasting Absinthe to drink for a fraction of the cost of commercial Absinthe.