Centiliters to Ounces: Convert cL to fl oz
Centiliters appear almost exclusively on European drinks labels. If you are holding a bottle marked 70 cL and wondering what that is in ounces, the answer is 23.7 US fluid ounces, or 24.6 imperial fluid ounces.
The Conversion
One centiliter is 10 milliliters, a hundredth of a liter. From there:
US fluid ounces = centiliters x 10 / 29.5735
UK fluid ounces = centiliters x 10 / 28.4131
In practice, one centiliter is about a third of a fluid ounce, so multiplying by 0.34 gets you close in your head. If you need weight rather than volume, the liters to grams calculator works from the same metric figures.
Bottle Sizes You Will Actually See
| Label | Milliliters | US fl oz | UK fl oz | Typically |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 cL | 50 mL | 1.69 | 1.76 | Miniature spirit bottle |
| 20 cL | 200 mL | 6.76 | 7.04 | Small wine or mixer |
| 25 cL | 250 mL | 8.45 | 8.80 | Small beer, juice carton |
| 33 cL | 330 mL | 11.16 | 11.61 | Standard beer bottle or can |
| 35 cL | 350 mL | 11.83 | 12.32 | Half-size spirit bottle |
| 50 cL | 500 mL | 16.91 | 17.60 | Large beer, water bottle |
| 70 cL | 700 mL | 23.67 | 24.64 | Standard spirits bottle in Europe |
| 75 cL | 750 mL | 25.36 | 26.40 | Standard wine bottle |
| 100 cL | 1,000 mL | 33.81 | 35.20 | One liter bottle |
| 150 cL | 1,500 mL | 50.72 | 52.79 | Magnum |
Why Spirits Are 70 cL and Wine Is 75 cL
The five centiliter gap between a spirits bottle and a wine bottle catches people out, especially when comparing prices. Wine settled on 75 cL, which the US market later matched at 750 mL, the size known there as a fifth. Spirits in the European Union are sold in a set list of permitted sizes, with 70 cL as the standard full bottle.
The United States took a different path for spirits, where 750 mL is the common bottle. So an imported bottle of gin may hold 70 cL in London and 75 cL in New York under the same brand and label design, a difference of nearly two fluid ounces.
Centiliters in Cocktail Recipes
European bar recipes measure pours in centiliters where American ones use fluid ounces. The usual translations:
| Recipe Says | Milliliters | US fl oz |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cL | 10 mL | 0.34 |
| 1.5 cL | 15 mL | 0.51 |
| 2 cL | 20 mL | 0.68 |
| 3 cL | 30 mL | 1.01 |
| 4 cL | 40 mL | 1.35 |
| 4.5 cL | 45 mL | 1.52 |
| 6 cL | 60 mL | 2.03 |
A 4.5 cL base spirit is the European equivalent of the American 1.5 fl oz shot, which is why the same cocktail reads as 4.5 cL in one book and an ounce and a half in another. Syrups and liqueurs are sometimes given by weight instead, and the milliliters to grams converter covers those.
Common Questions
How many ounces is 70 cL?
A 70 cL bottle holds 700 mL, which is 23.67 US fluid ounces or 24.64 imperial fluid ounces. This is the standard spirits bottle across most of Europe. If you are comparing it with an American bottle of the same spirit, that one is usually 750 mL, so it contains about 7 percent more.
Is 1 cL the same as 10 mL?
Yes, exactly. The centi prefix means one hundredth, so a centiliter is a hundredth of a liter, which is 10 milliliters. Moving between them is only a matter of adding or removing a zero, which is why European labels often print both.
Why do some countries use centiliters at all?
It keeps drinks labels tidy. Writing 33 cL rather than 330 mL gives a shorter number on a small bottle, and the sizes that matter in the drinks trade land on neat centiliter figures. Outside beverages the unit is rare, and most products stick to milliliters or liters, much as Scandinavian cookbooks lean on deciliters where others would print milliliters.