Alcohol density chart – the most comprehensive list available
If you want to layer different alcohol types, you have to remember to have the heaviest spirit at the bottom and then work your way up. If you don’t remember this, all the layers will mix in the glass, destroying the effect. Below you will find an alcohol density chart of some of the most common known spirit’s density. The bigger the difference is between two types of alcohol, the easier it will be for you to layer them.
A rule of thumb is, that the lower the percentage of alcohol, the more sugar is still in the fluid = heavier liquid
(Be aware that this list is in no way complete, so if you know where to find the density of a fluid that is not on the list, you are more than welcome to mention it in the comments.)
| Name | Density |
| Grenadine | 1.18 |
| Creme de Cassis | 1.18 |
| Anisette | 1.175 |
| Crème de Noyaux | 1.165 |
| Creme de Almond | 1.16 |
| Kahlua | 1.15 |
| Creme de Banana | 1.14 |
| Creme de Cacao | 1.14 |
| White Crème de Cacao | 1.14 |
| Coffee Liquor | 1.13 |
| Parfrait d’Amour | 1.13 |
| Cherry liqueur | 1.12 |
| Green Crème de Menthe | 1.12 |
| Strawberry liqueur | 1.12 |
| White Crème de Menthe | 1.12 |
| Blue Curacao | 1.11 |
| Galliano | 1.11 |
| Amaretto | 1.10 |
| Blackberry Liquor | 1.10 |
| Apricot Liquor | 1.09 |
| Tia Maria | 1.09 |
| Triple sec | 1.09 |
| Drambuie | 1.08 |
| Frangelico | 1.08 |
| Orange Curacao | 1.08 |
| Campari | 1.06 |
| Apricot brandy | 1.06 |
| Blackberry brandy | 1.06 |
| Cherry brandy | 1.06 |
| Peach brandy | 1.06 |
| Yellow Chartreuse | 1.06 |
| Bailey’s Irish Cream | 1.057 |
| Midori Melon Liquor | 1.05 |
| Rock and Rye | 1.05 |
| Benedictine | 1.04 |
| Brandy | 1.04 |
| Cherry Liquor | 1.04 |
| Cointreau | 1.04 |
| Kummel | 1.04 |
| Peach liqueur | 1.04 |
| Peppermint schnapps | 1.04 |
| Sloe gin | 1.04 |
| Tonic Water, Indian Tonic Water | 1.031 |
| Green Chartreuse | 1.01 |
| Water | 1.00 |
| Tuaca | 0.98 |
| Southern Comfort | 0.97 |
| Vodka (40%) | 0.916 |
| Absinthe | 0.89 |
| Everclear (75%) | 0.84 |
| Everclear (95%) | 0.80 |
| Alcohol, pure (ethanol) | 0.789 |
(Alcohol density chart, courtesy of various sources)
Good luck with your masterpieces 🙂
Wondering if these densities are in miligrams?
Hi Shane,
the are not in milligrams, but instead relative numbers. Water is “1” and the rest are sorted relative to that.
I hope that makes sense 🙂
BR,
Michael
Grams/ml, no doubt. The density of water is 1.0
Its the specific gravity of the substance which is the ratio of the density of a liquid with respect to water and is dimension -less. For example 1.13 could be in kg/L or g/ml or any other mass/volume
Couple of additions:
Absinthe – 0.89
Everclear (95%) – 0.80
Everclear (75%) – 0.84
I know that water is set at a 1, but I am wondering if tonic water would change the density at all. I have an idea for an interesting drink but I need to be able to float three layers, with tonic water being the center layer.
Hi Jeremy,
as for whether tonic water has a higher or lower (or the same) density value, I can’t tell you. What I can tell you though, is that carbonated fluids are highly unstable when it comes to layering:
Tip: How to layer carbonated fluids
Without having tried it, I’d say you’re in for some serious experimenting. But why don’t you just try it out? 🙂
Hi Michael,
As a Hospitality and Catering Student here in Britain, part of my course is to make cocktails and research them, and honestly this is the most useful tool for me as it helps me how to layer my drinks.
Josh
Hi Joshua,
cool! I’m very glad you find it useful – please do share with your fellow students as well 🙂
/michael
Do you know how different the densities need to be to layer? Could I, for example, make a drink that is a layer of white creme de cacao topped with a layer of green creme de menthe or is 1.14 and 1.12 too similar to be even momentarily stable?
The bigger the difference, the easier the layering will happen. I’m not sure whether you’ll be able to layer them, due to the next-to-not-existing difference in density, but please try and then come back and tell us the result in the comments 🙂
Ok, thanks. Maybe I’ll try using peppermint schnapps instead of creme de menthe and coloring it green with food color before layering. That has a much lower density than creme de cacao and would probably layer better and make a final product with a similar taste overall.
List is very nice, but these are just rough estimates. Depending on the brewery density can differ for type by about 0.03
Hi , thx for the density but , the 11th drink is cherry liqueur and the 35th is cherry liquor , with different density , so what that mean ? Thx
I am 95% sure that by cherry liqueur, Michael is referring to a sweet, lower alcohol liqueur like Cherry Heering. Cherry liquor is likely a spirit/brandy(like Kirschwasser Eau de Vie or cherry brandy) which is relatively low sweetness, higher alcohol (and thus lower density). Michael has both cherry liquor and cherry brandy in this list with similar densities so this supports my belief.
@Conrad – spot on 🙂
Also one is a liquor and the other is a liqueur
What is the difference between liquer and liquor? You have cherry liquer and cherry liquor at 2 different densities. Also, are all brands the same density or do they vary by brand?
Hi Jane, please see this answer:
https://www.the-bartender.org/tips-tricks/alcohol-density-chart/#comment-3520
What about kaluha
Hi 2cathome, Kahlua (1.15) has been added to the fluid density chart 🙂
Hi guys,
I have one question: which 40% vol. vodka has density 0,916? (normal temperature)
I say: no one. Normal density of all classic 40% vol. vodka is 0,940 – 0,944 g/ml. (me personally measured)
Anyone able to help me with the density of Jäggermeister ?
Should be a good bit lighter than Bailey’s. even Cointruea. As Jagearmastet layered better than Cointruea above Bailey’s in one of my experiment.
does any one know the density of coffee? It would be good to know for making a proper Irish Coffee. There should be three distinct layers. Alcohol on bottom, coffee mid range and cream floating on top.
Oct-16-2017
It should be very close to water. If you already know the order the ingredients go in, though, the exact densities don’t matter.
Is there any chance you know the density for general teqeuilas?
Hi Kelvin, I don’t think that answer exists since every (most, at least) tequilas are made from different recipes.
The density of an alcoholic beverage is basically derived from 1) The amount of sugar left in the beverage (less sugar = more alcohol = lighter weight) and 2) whatever other extras are added to the liquid (taste givers, aetheric oils, water etc).
So: There’s no end-all-be-all, “global density” for tequila 🙂
Do you know the density of Golden Sierra tequilla?
1. The table appears to assume all liquids are at the same (initial) temperature. If some ingredients were stored in the refrig and others in a cabinet, wouldn’t that make a difference?
2. Does anyone have information on the relative density of the more common Bitters?
As a general rule, the colder something gets the more dense it gets. However, I think the temperature difference would need to be fairly large to make an impact, at least based on the densities of water at different temperatures (varying from about 1.0 refrigerated to about .997 at room temperature). Granted, pure ethanol varies a bit more, going from 0.80 to 0.78 and milk goes from about 1.034 to 1.027. In the end, you’d just need to assume any cold liquids are slightly more dense than they would be at room temperature.
Bourbon…. https://ultrapure-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Spec-Bourbon-Whiskey.pdf
Great list. I could even be better if the name of the liquid was colored, or better, there would be a colored box behind each liquid, so that you could visualisize the result of the layering directly.
https://www.goodcocktails.com/bartending/specific_gravity.php has some additional values
http://www.aviationexpeditions.com/Drinks/AlcoholDensityChart Even more ….
There are problems here. Citing the density of 40%ABV Vodka as 0.916 is common error.
The correct value (at 20C) is about 0.94774. The reason for the error is called “excess volume”, iow adding 50ml of pure ethanol and 50ml of water yields only ~96ml of product. Volumes do not add. The “shrinkage” means the product is more dense that expected from a naive calculation.