Lo-Fi Explainer: Dram

The world of whisky can sometimes be intimidating with its jargon. Don't worry, we're here to help.
The Lo-Fi Explainer reviews commonly used terms & concepts so that you know what you're talking about.

No, someone asking for a dram isn't misspelling "dream" via mouth. Simply put, a dram is a pour of a beverage. In whisky culture, a dram is a pour made of whisky.

The anatomy of a dram.

The root of the term "dram" actually comes from "drachma," a small Greek coin. Which is why, historically, a dram is equivalent to a pour of just 1/8 of an ounce.¹ Apparently people were lightweights in ancient times.

Drachmas in drawings are smaller than they appear.

But what's the scientific volume of a modern dram? According to Urban Dictionary and your stingy friend, the volume of a dram isn't fixed at all but determined by how nice and/or generous the pourer is.

Dram scale.

No matter how stingy your friend might be, though, it's likely to beat out 1/8 of an ounce, so at least that's something. Progress!

¹ T.F. Hoad, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (1986).