Drink IQ
Know your pourA better spirit is still a spirit. Here is what is actually in the glass.
The premise
Our goal isn’t to get people to drink more. It’s to give them something better to drink.
That only means something if we are straight about the rest of it. Organic removes pesticides from the supply chain. It does not remove alcohol from the glass.
The measure
What one standard drink is
A standard drink is a fixed amount of pure alcohol, not a fixed amount of liquid. The glass tells you nothing on its own.
- 17.05 ml
- Pure alcohol in one Canadian standard drink — 13.45 grams.
- 44 ml
- Of 40% ABV spirit is one standard drink. That is 1.5 US fl oz — a single shot.
- 14 g
- Pure alcohol in one US standard drink. The United States, Canada, the UK and Australia all count differently.
- ×2
- A generous home pour is often two standard drinks, not one. Most people under-count.
Work it out yourself: volume in ml × ABV as a decimal = ml of pure alcohol. A 44 ml pour at 40% is 17.6 ml — one Canadian standard drink.
The guidance
What the research actually says
In 2023 the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction published Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, replacing the previous low-risk drinking guidelines. Its finding was blunter than what came before: risk begins to rise from the first drink, and there is no amount that is entirely without risk.
It describes a continuum — 1 to 2 standard drinks per week as low risk, 3 to 6 as moderate, 7 or more as increasingly high. That is per week, not per sitting. It is a significant change from earlier daily-limit advice, and it is worth reading in full rather than taking our summary for it.
Different countries publish different numbers. We are not going to pretend there is one answer, and we are not going to pick the most flattering one.
- There is no safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy, or when trying to conceive.
- There is no amount that is safe before driving, and impairment starts below any legal limit.
- Alcohol interacts with a great many medications. Ask a pharmacist, not the internet.
- If you are worried about your drinking, or someone else’s, that concern is itself worth acting on.
If you need it
Where to get help
These are independent of us. We have no relationship with any of them beyond pointing at them.
Please enjoy Audécious™ responsibly. Never share with anyone under the legal drinking age.
The list
Where we pour next
New markets, new serves, and the occasional bottle before anyone else. Nothing weekly, nothing automated.