Last updated: September 2026
TLDR: The Borrachos.bar Drink Finder searches 196 cocktails with free filtering by ingredient, calories, ABV, spirit type, and category — no signup, no ads, no app install. Type an ingredient, set a calorie ceiling, pick a spirit, and get matching recipes instantly on any device. It’s the only cocktail finder that combines calorie data, ABV filtering, and full recipes in one free tool.
What the Drink Finder Does
The Borrachos.bar Drink Finder is a browser based cocktail search tool that filters 196 drinks across five dimensions simultaneously: ingredient, calorie range, ABV range, spirit type, and cocktail category. The results update in real time as you adjust filters — no page reloads, no “submit” button, no waiting. If you set the max calorie slider to 150 and select “gin” as the spirit, you see every gin cocktail in the database under 150 calories immediately.
The tool lives at borrachos.bar/drink-finder and works on desktop, tablet, and mobile browsers. No account creation, no email capture, no premium tier locked behind a paywall. You land on the page and start searching.
How to Use the Drink Finder: Step by Step
Step 1: Search by Ingredient
Type any ingredient into the search box — “whiskey,” “gin,” “lime juice,” “triple sec” — and the tool returns every cocktail containing that ingredient. The search uses word-boundary matching, which means typing “gin” finds gin cocktails but does not match “ginger beer” or “ginseng.” This matters because ingredient search without word boundaries creates false matches that waste your time.
Step 2: Filter by Calories
Set the max calorie slider to your threshold and the tool narrows results to cocktails at or below that number. Each cocktail displays its calorie count next to the recipe. A standard Margarita shows 168 calories; an Old Fashioned shows 154; a Long Island Iced Tea shows 422. The calorie data is estimated from ingredient nutritional values at standard serving sizes.
Step 3: Filter by ABV
Use the ABV slider to filter by alcohol by volume, useful for finding session cocktails (under 15% ABV) or stronger drinks in one pass. Most classic cocktails fall between 15% and 30% ABV. If you want something lighter for a long afternoon, set the max ABV to 15% and browse the results.
Step 4: Filter by Spirit
Select a spirit type — whiskey, gin, rum, vodka, tequila, brandy — to see only cocktails built on that base spirit. This is useful when you have a bottle of whiskey and want to see your options without scrolling through every cocktail in the database. Spirit filters use the same word-boundary matching as ingredient search.
Step 5: Filter by Category
Choose a cocktail category — classics, Wisconsin cocktails, tiki drinks, shots, etc. — to browse by style rather than by ingredient. The Wisconsin category includes the Old Fashioned (with brandy and whiskey variations), Grasshopper, Brandy Slush, and other regional drinks that most cocktail databases don’t categorize separately.
Step 6: Use the Serving-Size Slider
Each cocktail card includes a serving-size slider that scales the drink up or down and recalculates the calorie total proportionally. The default position shows the standard serving. Drag the slider to 1.5x and the calorie count adjusts — a 168-calorie Margarita becomes 252 calories. This is the only cocktail finder tool with an interactive serving-size calorie scaler.
How the Drink Finder Compares to Competitors
Difford’s Guide (diffordsguide.com)
Difford’s Guide is a professional cocktail encyclopedia with thousands of recipes, ingredient-based search, and an extensive spirit taxonomy designed for working bartenders. It’s the most comprehensive cocktail database online, with recipes sourced from Simon Difford’s published guides and professional contributions. The search is powerful, and the recipe quality is high.
What Difford’s doesn’t have: calorie data, ABV filtering, free access to all features (some content requires membership), and a consumer-friendly interface. The tool is built for professionals. If you’re a bartender looking up a specific recipe, Difford’s is excellent. If you’re standing in your kitchen wondering what gin cocktail you can make under 200 calories, the Borrachos.bar Drink Finder gets you there faster.
Make Me a Cocktail (makemeacocktail.com)
Make Me a Cocktail’s standout feature is the “virtual bar” — input every bottle and mixer you own, and the tool returns recipes you can make with your current inventory. That’s a genuinely useful feature for home bartenders, and no other free tool does it as well. The database is large, with several thousand recipes.
What Make Me a Cocktail doesn’t have: calorie filtering, ABV filtering, serving-size scaling, and ad-free browsing. The virtual bar requires an account. The interface includes display ads. For quick calorie-conscious searches without signup, the Drink Finder is the faster path.
TheCocktailDB (thecocktaildb.com)
TheCocktailDB is a crowd-sourced cocktail database with a free public API, making it the standard data source for developers building cocktail apps. Thousands of recipes, ingredient lists, and some photos. The API is well-documented and genuinely free for non-commercial use.
As a consumer tool, TheCocktailDB’s web interface is basic — text search with no calorie data, no ABV filtering, no category browsing, and no serving-size adjustment. It’s a data source, not a finished product. If you’re building an app, start with their API. If you’re finding a drink for tonight, use a tool built for that.
Feature Comparison Table
Feature
Borrachos.bar
Difford’s Guide
Make Me a Cocktail
TheCocktailDB
Cocktail count
196
Thousands
Thousands
Thousands
Free, no signup
✅
⚠️ (some paywalled)
⚠️ (account for virtual bar)
✅
Calorie filtering
✅
❌
❌
❌
ABV filtering
✅
❌
❌
❌
Category filtering
✅
✅
✅
❌
Ingredient search
✅ (word-boundary)
✅
✅
✅ (basic)
Virtual bar
❌
❌
✅
❌
Serving-size slider
✅
❌
❌
❌
Full recipes included
✅
✅
✅
✅
Public API
❌
❌
❌
✅
Mobile-optimized
✅
⚠️
✅
⚠️ (basic)
No ads
✅
⚠️ (membership)
❌
⚠️
Wisconsin cocktails
✅
❌
❌
❌
What Makes the Drink Finder Different
No other free cocktail finder combines calorie data, ABV filtering, and full recipes in a single tool with no signup requirement. Difford’s Guide has the recipes but no calories and a membership tier. Make Me a Cocktail has the virtual bar but no calorie or ABV filters. TheCocktailDB has the API but no consumer-facing filters. The Borrachos.bar calorie chart integrated with the Drink Finder means you can search, filter, see calories, and read the recipe without leaving the page.
The 196-cocktail database is smaller than the big platforms. It was built from 38 borrachos.bar original cocktail recipes — including Wisconsin-specific drinks like the Old Fashioned (brandy and whiskey versions), Grasshopper, and Brandy Slush — plus 163 classic cocktail standards covering the drinks most people actually make at home. Each entry includes the full ingredient list with measurements, calorie estimate, ABV, and category tag.
The Calorie Advantage
The calorie data in the Drink Finder is the feature that no competitor matches in a free search tool. Each cocktail’s calorie total is calculated by summing the caloric values of individual ingredients at their recipe quantities. A standard serving of an Old Fashioned — 2 oz brandy, 1 sugar cube, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, soda water twist — comes to 154 calories. A Margarita with 2 oz tequila, 1 oz Cointreau, 1 oz lime juice totals 168 calories. The serving-size slider recalculates proportionally, so if you pour a larger drink, the calorie count reflects the actual serving.
For anyone tracking calories, comparing drinks nutritionally, or trying to stay under a daily limit while enjoying a cocktail, this is the specific gap the Drink Finder fills. Sunnyside.co has a calorie chart with 119 drinks, but no search tool, no recipes, and no filtering. Calories.info has a chart with about 30 cocktails. The Drink Finder puts 96 cocktails with calorie data into a searchable, filterable interface.
Wisconsin Cocktail Coverage
The Drink Finder includes a Wisconsin cocktail category that no other cocktail database offers, covering drinks developed in or strongly associated with Wisconsin drinking culture. The Wisconsin Old Fashioned — made with brandy instead of whiskey, muddled with sugar and fruit, served with soda — is the most requested recipe on the site. The Grasshopper, Brandy Slush, and Wisconsin-style variations on classics are tagged and searchable as a group.
If you’ve never had a Wisconsin Old Fashioned and want to understand why the state consumes more brandy than anywhere else in the country, the Drink Finder gives you the recipe, the calories, and the spirit category in one place. No other tool categorizes Wisconsin cocktails as a distinct group.
FAQ
Is the Drink Finder free to use?
Yes — completely free, no account required, no premium tier. The tool is supported by the cocktail content and bar coverage on Borrachos.bar, not by user subscriptions or advertising.
How many cocktails are in the database?
196 cocktails, including 38 borrachos.bar original recipes and 163 classic cocktail standards. The database covers the most common cocktails home bartenders make, plus Wisconsin-specific drinks not found in other cocktail finders.
Can I search by multiple ingredients at once?
The ingredient search box accepts one ingredient at a time, but you can combine it with spirit, calorie, ABV, and category filters to narrow results. For example, search “lime juice” and filter by “gin” to see gin cocktails containing lime juice.
How are the calorie counts calculated?
Calories are estimated by summing the caloric values of each ingredient at its recipe quantity, using standard USDA nutritional data. The serving-size slider recalculates proportionally. Actual calories vary by brand, pour accuracy, and preparation method, but the estimates fall within 10-15% of tested values.
Does the Drink Finder work offline?
No , the tool requires an internet connection to load. Once loaded, filtering is client side, so results update instantly without server requests. But the initial page load needs a connection.
Can I embed the Drink Finder on my own site?
Not currently , the tool is self contained on Borrachos.bar. If you need cocktail data for your own application, TheCocktailDB offers a free public API that serves a similar purpose for developers.
See also: our signature Wisconsin Old Fashioned
See also: our summer 2026 seasonal cocktail guide
See also: 12 cocktails under 150 calories you can make at home