Batched Cocktail Scaler

The mistake most operators make in batched cocktails is forgetting the water. A shaken cocktail picks up roughly 22% of its final volume in dilution from melting ice; a stirred cocktail picks up 25–30%. If you batch the spirits and citrus without adding water to compensate, your batched drink will be 22% stronger and 22% less balanced than the same drink built à la carte. The scaler below handles that math, so you don't.

1. Verify the spec. Confirm your single-serving recipe against a reference (Death & Co, Cocktail Codex, or the bar's house book). The scaler is only as accurate as the input ratio.
2. Combine in order. Spirits and modifiers first (these are the most stable and shouldn't oxidize). Then citrus and house ingredients. Water last.
3. Taste test. Build one cocktail from the batch and shake/stir it to service. Compare against an à-la-carte build from the same spec. They should be identical. If the batched version reads watery, you over-diluted; if it reads boozy, you under-diluted.
4. Chill aggressively. Batches need to come down to 28°F before service. Most under-counter fridges only hit 36°F. For pre-batched stirred drinks, freeze the batch — high-ABV liquid will not freeze solid at standard freezer temperatures.
5. Label and date. Every container gets a batch number, build date, build time, and the producer's initials. This is non-negotiable for any operation running more than three batches.
6. Service. Shaken cocktails get poured over fresh ice. Stirred cocktails get poured straight from the bottle into the chilled glass with a single large cube. Either way: garnish is built in-the-moment, not pre-attached.

What it fixes: Speed-of-service on high-volume drinks. Consistency across bartenders. Pour-cost discipline. Quality control. Ability to put a cocktail on a draft line or a tap. The capacity to do high-end weddings, brand activations, and pop-ups without sacrificing the program.

What it doesn't fix: Bad recipes. If your daiquiri is poorly balanced, batching it just gives you 5 liters of poorly balanced daiquiri. Batch only your tested-and-locked specs.

What it breaks: Anything with egg white (foam dies in storage). Anything with fresh herbs that need to be muddled (the oils oxidize and turn vegetal in batch). Anything that depends on a specific shake texture for its identity (sours can lose their bite). Test before you commit.