Long gone are the days of mindlessly free-pouring alcohol into a beer glass full of ice and dumping it haphazardly into a cocktail glass until it overflows, after which what remains in the strainer is casually tossed into the sink (or worse, into the bartender’s drink glass). Now, thanks to a renewed respectability in our profession, bartenders are measuring ingredients and creating perfectly balanced drinks that use the appropriate glassware functionally, as well as aesthetically.

Never let it be said that I’m against free-pouring, however. When practiced on a regular basis, acurate free-pouring skills can shave precious seconds from cocktail mixing in high volume bars. But it takes some serious attention to detail and determination to get those pours right, and when squeezing fresh fruit, smaller than usual lemon may lack that 1/4 ounce that can turn the world’s best Rum Fix into a cloyingly unbalanced mess. Not all pour spouts pour the same way, and syrupy, clogged liqueur spouts can throw off the most practiced rhythm. When in doubt, measure. Your customers will always wait the extra minute if the end result produced is a cocktail they’ll love.

Transcribed below is a measurement chart, listing both English and Metric equivalents. Thank kindredcocktails.com for this graphic, as it was decidedly easier to borrow than to type into the screen in perfect columns. Math is our enemy in one regard here, as decimals and percentages are clearly rounded up to make life easy. Trust me, if you figure out each conversion to the hundredth, you’ll only give yourself a headache. These conversions will work for every drink you need to make, every time.