How to Free Pour Like a Professional Bartender

You know the scene… Crowded bar, people 3 rows deep waiting to order their drinks, an edgy and strangely luring bartender moving with the precision and anticipation of their surroundings you’d swear them a Jedi. You watch as they take three orders at once while at the same time pouring the perfect amount of liquor with one hand and adding a mixer, straw, or garnish with the other. They throw it down in front of you with a napkin and a smile and ask “would you like to open a tab”?

While there are many skilled nuances involved here (which are discussed on other posts and pages of this website) to be a working bartender, for the purpose of this post, we will argue the most fundamental skill being exercised in this scene is the ability of the bartender to pour alcohol freely with one or multiple bottles, using either hand with extremely accuracy.

This is the skill of the “free pour”, the ability for someone like a bartender, or you, to be able to pour without using any measuring device, and know exactly how much liquid is poured. The rest of this post is dedicated to explaining the basics this skill, and how if you are so inclined, can practice this at home and be able to pour perfectly yourself, in 5-10 minutes.

Before we get started, there area few things you need:

– Measuring device (two measure jigger or marked shot glass are usually best)

– Quality speed pouring tops/spouts

– Empty bottles (nearly any size liquor, wine, or even beer bottles are the correct size for the pour spouts to fit)

– Water (don’t start with real liquor, you’ll just end up spilling it all over the place, or worse, drink it and give yourself one helluva hangover).

Ok, so with our tools in place lets get into it!

Start by filling the empty bottles with water, then put the pour spouts in the bottles. You want a nice snug fit, but if the fit is too loose, or too tight, you may need to find other bottles.

With our basic setup in place, the next thing to focus on is how to get the rhythm and pace of our count correct.

The unofficial pouring pace is generally a four count, 1 ounce shot. This equates to roughly 1 count = 1/4 ounce. And since many recipes are in 1/4oz – 1/2oz – 1 ounce increments, you can add or subtract ingredients in precise, 1/4 ounce increments.

Take a bottle and pour into the measuring tool, stoping at 1 oz. The first few times, don’t really worry about counting, just try to get a feel for how long you’re pouring for.

Then start adding a count to the pace, shooting for a quick 1, 2, 3, 4, where you stop at 1 oz as your counting “four”. Repeat this step a few more times, counting outloud may help if you feel you’re not starting to get the hang of it.

To be an effective bartender, we need to be able to do this with both hands. So once you’ve practiced a while with your dominant hand, switch to your non-dominant hand, going through the same process as above.

Lastly we need to be able to pour two bottles at the same time. Now remember the liquid pouring during our “count” is effectively doubled, thus a 1 ounce shot will only require a “two count”, with a half-ounce of liquid pouring from each bottle. You can also practice two bottle, 1.5 once pours (3 count), and two bottle, 2 ounce pours (4 count). And as Skyy from Tipsy Bartender would say, “there you have it!”

That is all that is required to be a competent, confident free-pouring wizard, just like a real bartender. Keep practicing, throw a party to try it out for your friends, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a legitimate bartender. For more resources about bartender techniques, check out the Bartending Basics series here.