Responsible Drinking

Who this site is for

CocktailHQ is intended for adults who have reached the legal drinking age where they live. That age isn't the same everywhere — it varies by country and region — so please use your own local law as the standard, not an assumption drawn from ours. If you haven't reached that age, or you choose not to drink for any reason, our alcohol-free section is built for you too.

Drinking with a bit of sense

A good drink is meant to be enjoyed slowly. A few habits make that easier: pace yourself rather than racing through a round, alternate alcoholic drinks with water, and eat something beforehand so alcohol hits you less hard on an empty stomach. Get to know your own limits rather than matching someone else's, and stop well before you've had enough to regret it.

Never drink and drive, and don't operate machinery, tools, or anything else that needs your full attention after you've been drinking. If you're heading out, plan your way home before you start, not after.

Our numbers are estimates

Alcohol content, standard drink counts, and nutrition figures shown across CocktailHQ are estimates based on typical ingredient measures and common recipe proportions. They're a useful guide, not a lab measurement — actual values shift with pour size, brand, and how a drink is made. Individual tolerance to alcohol varies a great deal from person to person, and nothing on this site is a substitute for paying attention to how you actually feel. This is not medical advice.

Pregnancy and medication

We don't offer medical guidance on this site, and we're not going to guess at it here. For guidance on alcohol during pregnancy or with medication, consult your doctor or an authoritative public health source such as your national health service. Please treat anything alcohol-related during pregnancy or alongside medication as a question for a qualified professional, not a recipe website.

Allergen information

Where we list allergen or ingredient information on a cocktail or ingredient page, it's provided as a helpful starting point rather than a guarantee. It may be incomplete, particularly for branded products and pre-made mixers. If you have an allergy or intolerance, always check the label on the actual product you're using before you drink it.