Units and calories in spirits

All spirits – including vodka, gin, rum, whisky, and brandy – are strong alcoholic drinks. They are often used in mixed drinks and cocktails.

To keep health risks from alcohol low, if you choose to drink spirits, it’s important to stick to the UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMOs’) low risk drinking guidelines. That means no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days, with several drink-free days, and no bingeing.¹

Regularly drinking more than the low risk drinking guidelines increases your risk of developing a range of health problems including heart and liver disease, and seven types of cancer.² The risk of developing these types of cancer starts to increase even at low levels of drinking – so the less you drink, the more you reduce your risk.³

How much alcohol is in spirits?

Checking a spirit’s ABV (alcohol by volume) tells you what percentage of the drink is made up of alcohol. The higher the percentage, the more alcohol there is. For example, half of a 50% ABV whisky is pure alcohol.

Standard spirits are often around 35-40% ABV but some can be much stronger. It’s important to check – you’ll find the ABV on the side of the bottle or ask at the bar.⁴

Spirits need to meet a minimum alcoholic strength to be allowed to use certain names.⁵ Brandy must be at least 36% ABV; gin, rum, and vodka are a minimum of 37.5% ABV; and all whisky / whiskey is at least 40% ABV.

A good way to keep track of how much you’re drinking is to know how many units of alcohol are in your drink. One unit of alcohol is 10ml of pure alcohol – and the number of units you are drinking depends on the drink’s size and strength.

Pubs and bars usually serve spirits in 25ml measures, about one unit of alcohol.

If you drink a spirit as part of a mixed drink or a cocktail, there can be several measures of spirit included – even if it doesn’t taste particularly strong. If you drink spirits at home, a good way to avoid accidentally pouring too much and to keep track of your units is by using an alcohol unit measuring cup.

How many calories are in spirits?

Alcohol contains around seven calories a gram, almost as many as one gram of fat.⁶ This means that because spirits contain lots of alcohol, they’re high in calories too.

A 25ml measure of standard spirits will contain around 50-60 calories, depending on the type of drink.⁷ But if you’re drinking at home and pouring ‘by eye’, it’s easy to accidentally pour a larger measure which will mean more calories and more alcohol.

And if you’re having a mixed drink, like a gin and tonic or a cocktail, the calories in your drink don’t just come from the alcohol. A double gin and tonic can contain around 150 calories.⁸

There are now many alcohol-free alternatives available to standard spirits. These can be a good choice if you’re counting calories as part of your healthy diet, or a weight loss programme, because they are legally required to show nutrition information, unlike standard spirits.^9,10

See how your drinks add up

Because alcoholic drinks come in different strengths and sizes, units are a way to tell how strong a particular drink is. Use our Unit and Calorie Calculator below to quickly calculate your units.