Calculators
Freezer batch calculator
Mix a drink ahead, dilute it in the bottle and keep it in the freezer, ready to pour with no ice. This tells you whether a recipe suits that, how much water to add, and what has to wait until you serve.
How this works
A freezer batch is served straight from the bottle, so no ice will dilute it: the water a stir would add goes in when you make it. The freezer then does the chilling. Whether that works depends on what is in the drink, and mostly on how strong the batch is after the water goes in.
How it decides
First, what can go in the bottle. Fresh citrus, juice, egg, cream and fresh espresso cannot: they dull, separate or need shaking. Soda, tonic and sparkling wine go in at the moment of serving. Herbs, fruit and garnish go in each glass. If a recipe needs any of the first group, the calculator suggests freezing only the base, without water, and mixing each drink to order.
Then, the strength. The batch's alcohol is worked out from each ingredient's strength and the water you add, which defaults to 20% of the finished batch. That strength is placed in a band. In a standard freezer at about −18°C, 30% ABV or more should stay liquid; below about 22% it is likely to freeze, at least partly; between the two, check it after a few hours. A colder freezer needs a stronger batch, so its bands are five points higher.
Sugar lowers the freezing point as well, and the recipes do not record sugar precisely enough to count it. When liqueurs, vermouth or syrups make up at least 30% of the batch, the bands are lowered by a flat 4 points. That is a rough allowance, not a measurement, and the result says when it has been applied.
Why there is no freezing point
A real freezing point depends on alcohol, sugar, acids and everything else dissolved in the drink, in proportions recipes do not record and bottles do not print. Any calculator that gave one to the degree would be inventing precision. The bands are deliberately wide, and the advice at the edge is to check the bottle.
Why there is no slushy or frozen-drink calculator
A slushy is a drink partly frozen on purpose, and its texture depends on sugar, alcohol, temperature and the machine's churning in ways that need measured sugar content to predict. CocktailHQ's recipes give sugar by ingredient, not by gram, so a slush calculator would be guessing. For frozen drinks, the blender's own ratio of ice to liquid is the reliable guide; see the blender page.
Why the water figure is adjustable
Published freezer-batch guidance disagrees. Jeffrey Morgenthaler uses about 18% water by volume for every freezer cocktail; Punch's guidance gives 20–25%; some very cold Martini recipes use about 10%. More water makes a softer drink and a weaker batch; less makes a stronger, more syrupy pour. Start at 20%, taste, and adjust next time.
A worked example: ten Manhattans
- One Manhattan: 60ml rye whisky, 30ml sweet vermouth.
- Ten servings, with 20% water: 230ml of water in a 1148ml batch, about 115ml a drink.
- Strength after water: about 28.4% ABV.
- Verdict: At about 28% ABV after water, the batch should stay liquid in a standard freezer at about −18°C, and pour thick and very cold. Liqueurs, vermouth or syrup make up much of this batch, and their sugar helps it stay liquid; the bands allow a rough 4 points for that.
- The bitters go in the bottle with everything else; the cherry or twist goes in each glass.
What it does not account for
- Sugar is allowed for roughly, never measured.
- Your freezer's real temperature. Many run warmer or colder than the dial says; a thermometer left in overnight tells you.
- How long it keeps. Spirit-only batches keep for weeks; anything with vermouth or wine is best within a few weeks, even frozen.
- Taste. The calculator gives a starting point. Pour one, taste it, and adjust the water next time.