Post #372421 by BrickHorn on Tue, Apr 8, 2008 8:46 AM

On 2008-04-08 08:13, jingleheimerschmidt wrote:

A lot of the recipes in Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide call for maraschino liqueur. Well, they're all pretty much the same recipe with minor variations on the choice of rum, whether you use sugar or sugar syrup and whether or not to add Pernod. The problem with TV's recipes is that they call for a "dash" of the liqueur. "No problem," you might think, "the good Trader included a nifty little primer on bar measurements near the beginning of the book." While that's true, he provides two definitions of "dash" (either 1/4 oz. or 1/8 tsp.) and doesn't indicate which applies to liqueurs.

After trying a Barbados cocktail using the 1 dash = 1/4 oz. measurement, I am guessing that I guessed incorrectly.

I am finding the same thing. The price of learning I reckon. So, 1/4oz is equal to 2 teaspoons while 1/8oz is equal to 6 drops. Right?

I'm completely confused once the terms "dash" and "drop" are thrown into the mix. There doesn't seem to be a consensus on what these measurements mean. For example, TV's two definitions are pretty far apart. 1/4 oz. (the "dash" for sugar syrup and juices) is 1.5 tsps. That's a measure 8 times larger than the other definition of dash (for bitters), which is 1/8 tsp. Since he doesn't provide a comprehensive list of the types of fluids that one or the other apply to, it could lead to some confusion.