There’s nothing quite like the zing of a good margarita when you’re in need of a drink. Refreshingly flavorful with the fine mix of sweet and sour notes, as well as a boozy bite from the dash of tequila, it’s no surprise that margaritas are in the repertoire of just about every bartender, be they professional or amateur. But if you’re planning a fiesta, a practical question will naturally pop up: Exactly how many margaritas can you squeeze out of a single bottle of tequila?
In most classic margaritas, around 50 ml (1.7 fluid ounces) of tequila is used for a single drink. A standard tequila bottle is usually 750 ml, so if we divide 750 by 50, we get 15 margaritas from one bottle — assuming you’re making them at standard strength, of course. A single bottle of Cuervo should be more than enough to keep an entire party happy.
There’s no hard-and-fast rule in making a classic margarita, however, so you may add more or less depending on how hard you’d like it (but if you want a perfectly balanced margarita, we highly recommend following the exact ratio of ingredients in tested recipes). But depending on the recipe, your measurement may differ. For example, would you like it frozen or shaken?
Frozen and shaken drinks measure differently
On hotter days of the year, a classic frozen margarita sounds about perfect. This boozy slushy is made by blending tequila, triple sec, agave syrup, and lime juice in a blender. For the tequila, we used around half a fluid cup (about 117 ml). A lot more booze is needed in this case to help the tequila flavor stand up against the dilution of the blended ice. So, if you make this recipe exactly as we wrote it, you could get between six and seven drinks from a bottle.
On the flip side, a shaken margarita, prepped using the traditional way of shaking the ingredients together in a cocktail shaker, will use less. Without dilution to account for and the lower serving temperature, tequila can shine without needing you to add too much of it to the drink. Our classic margarita used 1.7 fluid ounces, and our orange-centric golden margarita recipe was laced with only 1.5. If you’re planning for a big party and need to be economical with your tequila, this is the way to go.
