Shot glass

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Three shot glasses of varying shape and size
Shot glasses with a variety of designs. Shot glasses such as these are often collected as novelty items

A shot glass is a small glass designed to hold or measure spirits or liquor, which is either drunk straight from the glass ("a shot") or poured into a cocktail. A "shot" of liquor is not the same as a "shooter".


Name origin[edit]

The Oxford English Dictionary's first citation for the term "shot glass" is in The New York Times during the 1940s, but the earliest known written reference was in a 1913 book by Dr. Jehu Z. Powell, " A History of Cass County Indiana from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time" [Lewis Publishing Company, 1913]. On page 655 Dr. Powell recounts an incident c. 1857 in the small town of New Waverly, Indiana, occasioned by a local man attempting to open a saloon against fierce local temperance opposition. The initial stock was a barrel of whiskey, which had arrived by train and was sitting on the open freight platform awaiting delivery to the would-be barkeeper. A local man who was an ardent temperance supporter fired his rifle from an upper floor window in his house and shot a hole in the barrel, draining it of its contents. "The remedy was effectual, and the saloon was not opened, and ever after, when the boys wanted a drink they would ask for a 'shot of redeye.'" New Waverly is located just outside of Logansport, Indiana, which was an important transportation hub for northern Indiana in the 19th century as a riverboat port on the Wabash River and a stop on the Wabash and Erie Canal, as well as an important railroad engine maintenance and repair center during the first half of the 20th century. This intensive involvement in transportation could account for the gradual dissemination of an otherwise obscure local expression over a much broader geographic area.

Several examples also exist from the 1930s.[1][2] However, although it was used by some,[3][4] the term apparently did not come into common usage until much later.

Many references from the 1800s describe giving a jigger of whiskey or rum to workers who were digging canals. Most shot glasses are found in the United States, but shot glasses from before the 1940s are very rare.[5]

Before Prohibition in the U.S. in the early to mid 1900s, thin-sided whiskey glasses were common. After Prohibition, these were replaced by shot glasses with a thick base and thick sides.[citation needed]

Because the word shot also means "dose" or "small amount", it may simply be that these small glasses are called shot glasses because they hold small, powerful amounts. However, there are a range of more complex stories about the origin of the style of glass and its name. Few of them stand up to much scrutiny – either they place the origin decades before the term appeared in print, or they describe an item that had nothing to do with drinking liquor:


Country Small Single Double Notes
Australia 30 mL 60 mL A single shot is sometimes called a "nip".[6] At 30 mL, a typical spirit with 40 percent alcohol is roughly equivalent to one Australian standard drink.[7]
Canada 28.41 mL (1 ounce[8][not in citation given]) is a short shot (pony shot) 42.61 mL (1.5 ounces) 71 mL (2.5 ounces) In Canada, a "shot" generally refers to the province's definition of a "standard drink" under liquor licenses. Although sizes may vary, most provinces cite amounts similar to Ontario's guidelines of 0.6 oz. or 17 mL of pure alcohol; since a "shot" is typically a spirit with 40 percent alcohol, this makes the shot 1.5 oz. or 42.62 mL (though many establishments serve a lower "standard drink" of only 1 oz.).[9] A double shot in North America may be either 2.5 or 3.0 fluid ounces.[10] A smaller 1.0 fl. oz. shot is usually referred to as a "pony shot" or "short shot".[11]
Finland 40 mL In Finland, the maximum amount of strong alcohol restaurants are allowed to serve is regulated by law to one 40 mL portion at a time per customer. Doubles cannot be legally served.[citation needed]
Germany 20 mL 40 mL In Germany, shot glasses (German: Schnapsglas, Pinnchen, Stamperl) are smaller.[citation needed]
Greece 45 mL 90 mL A shot is commonly referred to as a "sfinaki" and it can be made of one liquor or a cocktail mix. There is also an 3 oz - "bottoms up" version of "sfinaki", called "ipovrihio", Greek word for submarine. It's served in a standard liquor glass half full of blonde beer, where the bartender adds a glass shot filled with vodka or whiskey.[citation needed]
Hungary 20 or 30 mL 40 or 50 mL 80 or 100 mL In Hungarian, shot glasses are called felespohár (feles meaning "half", standing for 0.5 dL), pálinkáspohár (for pálinka), kupica or stampedli.[citation needed]
India 30 mL 30 mL 60 mL A shot is commonly referred to as a "peg", and is measured as a "small" (chhota), or a "large" (bud-da) peg. A 90 mL shot in India is called a Patiala peg.[citation needed]
Ireland 35.5 mL 71 mL Derived from the use of a quarter-gill (35.516 mL) as the traditional Irish spirit measure.[citation needed]
Israel 30 mL 50 or 60 mL In Israel, the common word for a small shot is צ'ייסר ("chaser").[citation needed]
Italy 30 mL 40 or 60 mL In Italy, the common word for a shot is cicchetto or, more informally and used mainly in nightclubs by young people, shortino. In North Italy, the cicchetto is the most-common way to taste grappa from at least two centuries.[citation needed]
Poland 25 mL 50 mL 100 mL To take shots in Polish slang is to take po pięćdziesiątce, meaning to take "by fifties" (50 mL).[citation needed]
Romania 50 mL 100 mL A single shot is traditionally known in the Romanian language as unu mic (una mică) or cinzeacă, meaning "a small one". A double shot is simply called unu (una mare), meaning "one (big)".[citation needed]
Serbia 20 mL 30-50 mL 50–70 mL A single shot is traditionally known in the Serbian language as чашица за ракију and ракијска чашица, meaning "small glass for rakija" and "rakija glass", or simply as мера – мерица, meaning "measure". A double shot is simply called Дупли, meaning "a double", while the smallest, 20 milliliter glass, is known as dvojka meaning "two".[citation needed]
Sweden 20 mL 40 mL 60 mL A single shot is referred to as a fyra, meaning "a four" and a double is referred to as a sexa, meaning "a six", as Swedes will generally use centiliters rather than milliliters for any measure larger than 10 mL[citation needed]
Slovakia 20 or 25 mL 40 or 50 mL 80 or 100 mL The most-common single-shot size is the pol deci (literally, "half a decilitre", 50 mL).[citation needed]
South Africa 25 mL The South African government has an official definition for the single-shot size.[citation needed]
United Kingdom 25 or 35 mL 50 or 70 mL Shots sold on-premises must contain either 25 mL or 35 mL measures of whisky, gin, rum, or vodka, as defined in the Weights and Measures Act of 1985. This requirement does not extend to other spirits. A 2001 amendment allowed a double shot of 70 mL to be served. Generally, a single measure is equal to 35 mL in Northern Ireland and 25 mL in the rest of the United Kingdom.[12]
United States 30 mL (1.0 US fl oz) 44 mL (1.5 US fl oz) 89 mL (3.0 US fl oz) There is no standard size for a single shot, except in Utah, where a shot is defined at 1.5 fl. oz.[13] Elsewhere in the U.S., the standard size is generally considered to be 1.25–1.5 fl. oz.[14][15]

Shot-measuring tools[edit]


A jigger

A jigger or measure is a bartending tool used to measure liquor, which is typically then poured into a cocktail shaker. It is named for the unit of liquid it typically measures, a jigger or shot, which measures 1 12 US fluid ounces (44 ml).[16] However, bar jiggers come in other sizes and may not actually measure a fluid jigger.


Kitchen shot[edit]


See also[edit]


  1. ^ [1]. "...whiskey and sour, which was served in a 2-ounce "shot" glass...". American Law Reports (annotated), Volume 66 (1930). Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company (via Google Books).
  2. ^ [2]. "He held his shot glass upside down and watched the last few drops of whisky roll down the side of the glass". Prairie Schooner, Volumes 13-14 (1939). University of Nebraska Press (via Google Books).
  3. ^ [3]. "...and brought out a bottle of brandy and a shot glass...". The Portsmouth Times (via Google News). September 6, 1941.
  4. ^ [4]. "...characters nursing a shot glass late at night in men's bars...". St. Petersburg Times (via Google News). August 1, 1955.
  5. ^ "The Pre-Prohibition Collector's Resource Site". Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
  6. ^ [5]
  7. ^ "Standard Drinks Guide". Department of Health and Ageing (Australian). Retrieved April 10, 2011. 
  8. ^ "Weights and Measures Act". Department of Justice (Canada). Retrieved November 24, 2011. 
  9. ^ Smart Serve Ontario: Hospitality Industry Training Organization of Ontario. Smart Serve Ontario: Responsible Alcohol Beverage Service Training (2002). Queen's Printer for Ontario, p. 6.
  10. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Units: D". How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved May 19, 2008. 
  11. ^ "Shot Glass". Glass info. The Webtender. Retrieved May 19, 2008. 
  12. ^ "1 Unit" (PDF format; requires Adobe Reader).
  13. ^ "Shotglass Size". a site for shotglasses and other similar items. Retrieved May 19, 2008.  |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  14. ^ Graham, Colleen. "Shot Glass". Cocktails: The Glassware Tour. Retrieved May 19, 2008. 
  15. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Units: S". How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved May 19, 2008. 
  16. ^ Feller, Robyn M. (2003). The Complete Bartender. Berkley Books. ISBN 978-0-425-19013-5. 
  17. ^ "An example of a kitchen shot from a kitchenware manufacturer". Kitchen shot. Anchor Hocking. Retrieved Feb 1, 2013. 

External links[edit]