How to count alcohol units (without going crazy)

What is an alcohol unit?

Mindrink uses a simple, internationally recognised definition:

1 unit = 10 grams of pure alcohol

This makes it easy to compare any drink—beer, wine, or spirits—on the same scale.

To calculate units for any drink:

Units = (Volume in ml × ABV% × 0.789) ÷ 10

Why 0.789?
Because ethanol weighs 0.789 g/ml, so this converts liquid volume into grams of alcohol.

Don't worry — Mindrink does this automatically.
But here are clear examples so you understand how drinks compare.

🍺 Examples (using 1 unit = 10 g ethanol)

Beer

A pint (568 ml) at 5% ABV
= 568 × 0.05 × 0.789 ÷ 10
≈ 2.2 units

🍷 Wine

A medium glass (175 ml) at 12% ABV
= 175 × 0.12 × 0.789 ÷ 10
≈ 1.7 units

🥃 Spirits

A standard shot (25 ml) at 40% ABV
= 25 × 0.40 × 0.789 ÷ 10
≈ 0.8 units

🍸 Cocktail

A margarita (150 ml) at 15% ABV (varies a lot)
= 150 × 0.15 × 0.789 ÷ 10
≈ 1.8 units

Real cocktails often contain 2–3 shots of spirits, which means actual units can be much higher than the menu suggests.

🎯 Why Mindrink uses units instead of "drinks"

The problem with "drinks" is that they're not standardized:

• A "glass of wine" can be 125 ml, 175 ml, or 250 ml
• Beer ranges from 3% to 9%+ ABV
• Cocktails vary by bar and recipe
• Spirits can be single, double, or poured generously

Using units (10 g of alcohol) gives you a consistent and comparable measurement no matter what you drink.

This helps you:

• • Understand how much alcohol you're actually consuming
• • Compare different days, weeks, and sessions accurately
• • Stay aware of binge thresholds and guideline ranges
• • See long-term patterns more clearly

📘 Want to understand Mindrink's guidance levels?

Mindrink combines international public-health research (Canada, Australia, Ireland, WHO, NIAAA) and converts everything to units = 10 g for simplicity.

👉 See our methodology page for a full breakdown of the science and the values we derive.

A note on different unit systems around the world

Not all countries define an "alcohol unit" the same way.
This can make online charts look inconsistent — but it's simply because they use different amounts of pure alcohol per "unit" or "standard drink."

United Kingdom

1 unit = 10 ml pure alcohol (≈ 8 g)
This is why UK examples (e.g., "2.1 units" for a glass of wine) don't match Mindrink.

USA

1 standard drink = 14 g pure alcohol
Used by NIAAA, CDC
Larger than both UK and WHO-style units.

Canada

1 standard drink = 13.45 g pure alcohol
Used in national guidelines and risk studies.

Mindrink (WHO-style system)

1 unit = 10 g pure alcohol
Matches systems used in WHO, Australia, Ireland, and many global research papers.

Why Mindrink uses the 10 g standard

Using 10 g per unit creates a global, consistent measure that works well across countries and aligns with most public-health research.

What this means for users

If you compare Mindrink with UK, US, or Canadian charts, numbers may look different —
that's normal, because the underlying "unit" definition is not the same.