How many shots are in a bottle of tequila?

By Rob Cockerham | December 11, 2011

How Much is inside a bottle of tequila? No one knows.

The label says 750 ml, and the bartender says that's 25 ounces.. but that's not how I measure my tequila. I use a more traditional unit. The shot.

A shot might be an ounce, but they are rarely poured that way. Shotglasses come in different sizes and shapes. Some hold an ounce, but most hold two ounces. Event the ones with a little "one shot" line aren't neccessarily calibrated for a single ounce.

If you want to know how many shots are really in a bottle of tequila, you've really got to actually pour them.

So we poured them.

First we visted Ikea and picked up 30 identical shotglasses. Then we sent out invitations for a tequila shots party.

Not long after the first guests arrived, I opened the 750 ml (regular sized) bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila and started pouring.

It wasn't long until the bottle was completely empty and we discovered our answer: 17 shots!

The shots were tall, leaving what I figured was just enough space to avoid spills on the short trip between my hand and someone's mouth. Dividing the 750ml into shots gave me 17 equal shots of 44ml. This turned out to be almost exactly one and a half ounces per shot.

With our evening's calculation finished. It was time to celebrate! Seventeen! You get seventeen real shots per bottle of Tequila. And since vodka, rum, Ouzo and Jagermeister all come in the same sized bottle, the answer of 17 shots per bottle holds true for each of them.

What follows is an accounting of what happens to those 17 shots when you actually serve them at a party.

I drank one shot.

Before you are 25, you have to be careful not to get too drunk at your own party. After that age, it is almost impossible, because you are usually too busy hosting your party to drink to excess.

Morgan had a shot.

Meaghan was handed a shot...

...but she doesn't drink tequila, so she got rid of it.

Courtney had a shot.

Charlene posed with a shot..

But she actually poured it into a drink.

Scott had a shot.

Rebecca had a shot.

Josh and Courtney had shots.

Tim had a shot.

Sarah ditched her shot.

Nick had a shot.

Alisha got a shot.

But she didn't actually drink it.

John got a shot.

Patty drank a shot.

Dave got a shot, but gave it to me after I convinced him it was my birthday.

And Stacy drank a shot.

That was the story for the bottle of tequila. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only bottle of tequila at the party. We also found out that there are 28 shots of vodka in a 1.75liter bottle of vodka.