After a lifetime of hanging out in dive bars, wherein the bartender who not only doesn’t use a shot glass, but pours drinks half alcohol and half mixer, that’s how I make mine at home.
If any of my former drinking buddies saw me using a shot glass to make a cocktail, they would give me endless shit about it.
Whiskey coke? No.
When I make a proper cocktail, it’s rare. But I will if it’s important to make a good tasting drink.
How do you make a Shillelagh or an Irish Car Bomb without using a shot glass?
Hand pour, sip, adjust as needed.
If I’m making an actual cocktail, with ingredients and stuff where the balance matters, I’ll measure.
If I’m pouring liquor into a mixer, who cares?
I don’t really drink just a spirit plu mixer like coke. If I’m having a cocktail, which we do most nights, it requires proper measuring. Otherwise, I’m just drinking whiskey on the rocks.
England now requires by law that barkeeps pour a measured shot out for patrons, which I consider an insult to barkeeps.
I always go by eye when making something for myself. I might measure if I were making a cocktail for a guest. Several years ago I got into trouble with the wife over a dinner we had with an old college friend and his partner…they said “OOOOO MARTINIS” so I fixed a batch. They spent the rest of the evening slobbering drunk, and she accused me of loading their drinks.
But a martini is just gin and vermouth, it’s all alcohol.
True of many cocktails (short drinks, usually served straight up)…as opposed to highballs (tall drinks with ice).
What I meant was that I gave them martinis with 3-5 ounces of gin, which is the way I take them. Deadly, if your usual drink is a glass of white wine. They may have also called for seconds, I can’t remember.
Yep, that’s what we use too, along with some very similar Pampered Chef measuring cups that we’ve had for a really long time.
Honestly, unless you’re a very experienced bartender skilled at hand pouring, you HAVE to measure pretty accurately in order to get the balance right on most mixed drinks and cocktails, simple highballs excepted (whiskey & coke, rum & coke, screwdrivers, G&T, etc…) Try making say… a Sazerac without measuring. Chances are, you’ll mess it up and it’ll taste strange. Or a Hemingway Daiquiri/La Floridita. Or just about any of the tiki drinks.
It turns out I use a jigger, a word I only discovered 5 minutes ago for my cocktail measurer thingie.
Unless it’s a gin and tonic, I’ve been pouring them so long now, the measure is instinctive.
Depends. If I’ve never made it before, I’ll measure. If I’ve made it dozens of times before, I’ll estimate.
I see now people are mentioning things like whiskey & coke. That’s not the drinks I am making. I’m talking about manhattans, martinis, etc. Things where proportion matter. We don’t tend to make drinks with just a mixer except for gin & tonics which does not require measurement. And, gin & tonic weather is nearly upon us. 
A few weeks ago a friend stopped over. I was taking drink orders and he asked for a Long Island Iced Tea. When I returned and handed him his drink, he was surprised. He asked for one assuming I’d get that he was joking, but it is easy to mix one up without measuring. The splash of cola at the end was the most difficult thing to procure, but we just happened to have a can-o-coke in the fridge.
It depends.
Individual drinks? Sure I’ll use a shot glass.
Large batches? I’ll use a pyrex measuring cup.
I don’t tend to eyeball when I’m going for more than just geting drunk.
I don’t measure, don’t want to know.
Absinthe is a bit of a process–chuck about that much sugar into the bottom of a rocks glass, add about this much water and swirl it until most of the sugar is dissolved, fill it to about here with absinthe (here is dictated by how loose I aim to get), top off the glass with crushed ice and haul it out to the back porch to watch the hummingbird moths work over the petunias. Make another if the stars are out and if it seems right to do so.
Margaritas are a barbarian’s drink. Pour a couple inches of Jose into a 32oz tumbler, nearly top off with crushed ice, add mix. Stir with large plastic straw until brave enough to hit it.
Zombies: OK, these can be complicated so I premix. Add rums and other stuff in carefully measured portions to a 64oz growler. When it’s zombie time, pour a couple inches of the potion into a 32oz tumbler, half fill with OJ, Ice the rest. Use the big straw, get comfortable, suck it down.
Wine: Find the wine glasses, the beer mug is usually stored with them. Fill 20oz beer mug with wine. Straw optional.
I agree with this. Rum and coke it does not really matter. But for a martini you want to have the amount of drink for the glass. You cant really top off the martini with coke or a little more gin. You need to get the gin cold in the shaker.
I drink bourbon and coke, and I always measure these days so I don’t get drunk too soon.
Requires a few quick considerations: How big is the glass? Is it bottom shelf gin or vodka or something tasty. And ice. I like a lot of ice in some drinks but not others. For gin and tonic, I start with the glass full of ice. Same with vodka cran. If you’re starting with full ice, then usually half elixir and half mixer is a good place to start. That first sip is a bit strong but it gets milder with time, which works because you usually want to start out sipping slowly. It’s so disappointing when it’s a pansy-ass first sip.
Yeah, I’m talking about proper cocktails, not just a highball of spirit + mixer. My wife’s favorite cocktail for hot weather is the 1930s version of the Singapore sling which has 6 ingredients, I’m not going to be able to eyeball that and get it right.