There is a difference between a shooter and a shot. A shooter is usually a mixed drink that amounts about 2 to 3 ounces in a shot glass (or a rocks glass).

A shot, on the other hand, is a straight drink directly poured from a bottle of liquor in a shot glass.

There are three things that a bartender should be aware of before mixing shooters;

1) know what you are making
2) the number of shooters you are making
3) the total ounce that goes into each glass



Let's say you are making 3 shooters of Red Schnappers. Each glass would have 2 ounces in a rocks glass. So 2 oz of total liquor for each drink multiplies by 3 glasses (serving 3 shooters) equals 6. (2x3=6) Now 6 multiplied by 2 equals 12. Whatever the shooter you're making, always multiply by 2 after you do the first calculation.

Then 12 divided by the number of ingredients, which is 3, equals 4. Red Schnappers consists of 1) Crown Royal, 2) Amaretto and 3) Cranberry Juice. The final number 4 is your count that you do when pouring each ingredients. Remember from Day 1, we have learned 1 count is 1/4 oz. So 4 counts is 1 ounce. Therefore we are pouring 1 ounce of each ingredients into a shaker.

Let's go over again:
2 (oz) x 3 (serving/glasses) = 6
6 x 2 = 12
12 / 3 (no. of ingredients) = 4 (count)
4 (count) = 1 (oz) = amount of each ingredients in the cocktail

After pouring all three ingredients with 4 counts into a shaker with ice, prepare three shot or rocks glasses on a bar rack and pour the drink into each glass equally.

For shooters cocktail recipes, go to our Shooters section.

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