Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Does drinking beer thru straw make U drunk faster?

0 views
Skip to first unread message

Edward Zotti

unread,
Mar 11, 1994, 3:31:40 PM3/11/94
to
Well, does it, i.e., drinking beer through a straw? This has the reek of an
urban legend about it, but I am sure many thousands of netters have personal
experience in this regard and can testify one way or another. Theories on why
this occurs, IF it occurs, also appreciated. Replies by e-mail appreciated.
-Ed

Tony Buckland

unread,
Mar 12, 1994, 1:37:16 PM3/12/94
to
In article <ezotti.763417900@merle> ezo...@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Edward Zotti) writes:
>Well, does it, i.e., drinking beer through a straw? This has the reek of an
>urban legend about it ...

I've heard this hypothesis, and also that sniffing your warmed
brandy is a quick drunk. The rationalization I've heard is that
alcohol vapor is absorbed directly from the membranes into the
bloodstream. I haven't a clue whether this is physiologically
possible. It will be interesting to read the comments of
some informed people here.

Allard &

unread,
Mar 12, 1994, 4:24:26 PM3/12/94
to
In article <ezotti.763417900@merle> ezo...@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Edward Zotti) writes:

Well, it makes you FEEL more drunk as you get less oxygen while you're
drinking through the straw.
So why doesn't drinking soda through a straw produce this effect ?
I think, most people drink beer a lot faster than soda. If you want to
drink through a straw that fast, you'll have to take very log sips
- more oxygen deprivation - more dizzyness.

An easier way to produce the same effect is holding your breath for
just about as long as you can.

I'll drink your beer in the meantime. ;-)

Allard Mosk
mo...@phys.uva.nl

Bill Grae

unread,
Mar 12, 1994, 4:51:25 PM3/12/94
to
Tony Buckland (buck...@ucs.ubc.ca) wrote:
: I've heard this hypothesis, and also that sniffing your warmed

: brandy is a quick drunk. The rationalization I've heard is that
: alcohol vapor is absorbed directly from the membranes into the
: bloodstream. I haven't a clue whether this is physiologically
: possible. It will be interesting to read the comments of
: some informed people here.

I'm not sure how "informed" I really am, but I can state from experience
that breathing alcohol vapor given off by spirits does indeed result in
SERIOUS intoxication.

I had the pleasure to work in a vineyard during one of my
leaves-of-absence from full-time college studies. Although I usually
worked out in the fields tying vines, I helped bottle a couple of times
as well. As the winery output was fairly small, we did it by hand, so to
speak, inside an aluminum barn. One person handed an empty bottle to the
spigot filler. The filler placed the bottle on a spigot and filled the
bottle up to a certain point. The next person grabbed the filled
bottle(s) and passed 'em to the corker. The corker put the bottles in a
gizmo that drove a cork into the neck. The next person put a capsule
over the cork/stem of the bottle (we used plastic, rather than lead) and
handed off to the guy with a heat gun who shrunk the capsule in place.

Anyway, after four hours of this inside this barn, we had to take a
break. Although there was hardly any spillage to speak of, the vapor
coming off the wine had filled the barn. And after breathing it for four
hours every last one of us was utterly blasted.

As I (hazily) recall, we shut down the machinery, closed the valves, and
just sort of marched out of the barn and took naps in a nearby field.
Although the run of chardonnay etc. COULD have all been bottled in two
days, it wound up taking us a week because of the need to nap. I must
say, however, that that's the most fun I've ever had working on an
assembly line.


-- Regards,

Bill Grae
bill...@echonyc.com
____________________________________________________________________
Dulce est desipere in loco. Whoop - there it is!

Karen McKenna

unread,
Mar 13, 1994, 7:49:48 AM3/13/94
to
mo...@phys.uva.nl (Allard &) writes:
>Well, it makes you FEEL more drunk as you get less oxygen while you're
>drinking through the straw.
No, when drinking through a straw you get more bubbles and more
oxygen, so it does make you get drunk faster, just like the bubbles in
champagne. In fact you absorb more oxygen.


>So why doesn't drinking soda through a straw produce this effect ?
Because you are wrong, and because soda contains no alcohol.

>I think, most people drink beer a lot faster than soda. If you want to
>drink through a straw that fast, you'll have to take very log sips
>- more oxygen deprivation - more dizzyness.

An interesting explanation, but misses the main point. Bubbles
cause alcohol to be absorbed faster (you get drunk quicker, stay drunk
for a shorter time). Also, you are breathing in when you drink from a
straw.
And note that the excess drunkenness persists until you sober up
(admittedly quicker than you would if drinking normally), rather than
the minute or two it would if it was just lack of oxygen.

>An easier way to produce the same effect is holding your breath for
>just about as long as you can.

I think I can tell the difference between asphyxiation and
drunkenness!

>I'll drink your beer in the meantime. ;-)

Keep drinking and maybe you will be able to as well!

BTW Someone here also said that nitrous oxide caused its effects through
asphyciation as well - even more incorrectly. Try asphyxiation sometime,
its not that exciting!
>Allard Mosk
>mo...@phys.uva.nl


David Cake (facts checked with Med student girlfriend Karen )

--
"Remember, I not we, clean nails and no talking to yourself - the two
golden rules of sanity."
Karen : mcke...@tartarus.uwa.edu.au

Paul Burrows

unread,
Mar 13, 1994, 5:51:27 PM3/13/94
to
In article <2lv25c$g...@styx.uwa.edu.au> mcke...@tartarus.uwa.edu.au (Karen McKenna) writes:
>mo...@phys.uva.nl (Allard &) writes:
>>Well, it makes you FEEL more drunk as you get less oxygen while you're
>>drinking through the straw.
> No, when drinking through a straw you get more bubbles and more
>oxygen, so it does make you get drunk faster, just like the bubbles in
>champagne. In fact you absorb more oxygen.
>
Oxygen? Aren't the bubbles carbon dioxide?


bill nelson

unread,
Mar 13, 1994, 10:32:12 PM3/13/94
to
mcke...@tartarus.uwa.edu.au (Karen McKenna) writes:
: >Well, it makes you FEEL more drunk as you get less oxygen while you're
: >drinking through the straw.
: No, when drinking through a straw you get more bubbles and more
: oxygen, so it does make you get drunk faster, just like the bubbles in
: champagne. In fact you absorb more oxygen.

Why would you get MORE oxygen? The bubbles are carbon dioxide, not O2.
Also, how would such bubble in the stomach speed the absorbtion of the
alcohol?

: >So why doesn't drinking soda through a straw produce this effect ?


: Because you are wrong, and because soda contains no alcohol.
:
: >I think, most people drink beer a lot faster than soda. If you want to
: >drink through a straw that fast, you'll have to take very log sips
: >- more oxygen deprivation - more dizzyness.
: An interesting explanation, but misses the main point. Bubbles
: cause alcohol to be absorbed faster (you get drunk quicker, stay drunk
: for a shorter time). Also, you are breathing in when you drink from a
: straw.

Once again. Would you please explain the mechanism?

Bill

yvind S{ter

unread,
Mar 14, 1994, 8:43:03 AM3/14/94
to
No, just dizzy.
o...@stud.unit.no

Chris Call 908-946-1133

unread,
Mar 14, 1994, 11:23:28 AM3/14/94
to

Since you're ingesting the same amount of alcohol whether you drink through
a straw or not, you'll be just as drunk either way. The question should really
be whether the alcohol enters your bloodstream any faster.

Have you tried asking this question in a newsgroup related to biology and/or
medicine?

-- Chris

Twinkle

unread,
Mar 14, 1994, 9:45:03 PM3/14/94
to

I dunno about the rest of you, but I drink more soda and drink it more
quickly when drinking it from a straw.


ntt...@dgis.dtic.dla.mil

unread,
Mar 15, 1994, 8:51:46 AM3/15/94
to
Edward Zotti (ezo...@merle.acns.nwu.edu) wrote:

It's the rate -- of absorption by the body -- of ingestion --
that has the effect. Drinking through a straw is a lot like
the high school trick of drinking a shot of beer a minute. The
rate of ingestion is about optimum for the rate of absorption --
not unlike an intervenous drip being the best way to meter
medicine into the body.

p.s. bet you can't drink a shot of beer a minute for one hour!

Matthew H. Bassett

unread,
Mar 15, 1994, 12:15:17 PM3/15/94
to
In article <2m4ehi$d...@dgis.dtic.dla.mil>, ntt...@dgis.dtic.dla.mil writes:
|> p.s. bet you can't drink a shot of beer a minute for one hour!
|>

I did this once in college, the infamous "shot a minute". We later realized we
were using ounce and a half shot glasses (not the normal ounce). I stopped after
an hour and had quite a time remaining upright for any length of time. If you do
the calculation, it was equivalent to 7 1/2 12oz. beers in an hour! Never again.

BTW, the winner lasted for something over 2 hours and only lost because he lost
track of time between shots. You see after a very few shots, a minute takes on
all new meaning for the contestants.

And about the drinking beer through a straw stuff. I think if it does occur it
has something to do with the vacuum produced to drink through a straw. The blood
vessels in the mouth come to the surface and allow more alcohol to pass quickly
into the bloodstream, thus the quick high. Also, more of the tissue in the mouth
comes in contact with the alcohol when drinking through a straw. At least when I
drink from a glass it goes from my lips to my throat pretty non-stop. However
when using a straw my mouth becomes pretty full of liquid. Maybe I'm just wierd
that way :)

Matt

we4...@ark.ship.edu

unread,
Mar 16, 1994, 5:54:05 PM3/16/94
to

Well, I have never actually used a straw, But I did use a funnel (I think
that it may have the same effect as a straw). Anyway, I got drunk faster than
if I Had just drunk the beer normaly. I would suggest, maybee, an experiment
is on the order... I'll try over the weekend and post the results....


L8r...


._________.____.____.____.____._________._____ ____
| | | | | | | |/ /
| |____| | | | | |____| / /
| | | | | | | | \
| | | | | | | \ \
|_________|____|____|_________|_________|____|\____\
! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
: : : : : : : :

Split Adrenalin

unread,
Mar 20, 1994, 9:35:30 PM3/20/94
to
: Well, does it, i.e., drinking beer through a straw? This has the reek of an

: urban legend about it, but I am sure many thousands of netters have personal
: experience in this regard and can testify one way or another. Theories on why
: this occurs, IF it occurs, also appreciated. Replies by e-mail appreciated.

Well I've personally tried this and I find that it does getting you buzzin'
a lot faster. Usually I need at least a six-pack in order to begin to get a
good buzz going, but when drinking through a straw it takes only about three
or four to do it.

Theories?

I don't know, but if you think about it you drink a lot faster through a
straw than, say, out of a can or bottle. See when drinking out of a can or
bottle you have to coordinate the way the beer comes out of the bottle and
when you swallow so that you don't fill your mouth with beer and choke.
It's actually a very complicated process.

Through a straw it's almost like a straight pipe from the can/bottle to your
throat. No need to really swallow it just goes straight in. It seems to
work in this case...

--
----
"You can twist perception, | "The story
but you can't budge reality." | of life is quicker
- Rush | than the wink of an eye.

Howard / Benjamin Richard (ISE)

unread,
Mar 21, 1994, 12:19:23 AM3/21/94
to
In article <ezotti.763417900@merle> ezo...@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Edward Zotti) writes:

Hi, this is actually the first message I've ever posted (being a
new user), and I thought I'd reply to your querey.

Drinking beer through a straw does get you drunk faster because
you're not taking as much air in, meaining a higher concentration of
alcohol to oxygen in the bloodstream. I've only done this once but it worked.

Howie

bob grochowski

unread,
Mar 25, 1994, 3:02:15 PM3/25/94
to

I'm too new to this group to have seen a FAQ (like today), so point me to the
source if possible ... or answer the one question I have, to wit:

Lately, my bananas have been getting brown a lot faster than usual. Nothing in
the house seems to have changed; humidity, temperature, bug content, lighting,
and just about anything that I can check, is the same. But still my bananas go
*really* brown in about three days as opposed to six. I still eat `em, but I'm
not happy. Anyone know what's changed?

RG

John B. Melby

unread,
Mar 28, 1994, 11:46:01 PM3/28/94
to
>Lately, my bananas have been getting brown a lot faster than usual. Nothing
>in the house seems to have changed; humidity, temperature, bug content,
>lighting, and just about anything that I can check, is the same.

How about ventilation? If you leave your bananas in a closed room with other
ripening fruit, they will turn brown more quickly. (If you need to ripen
bananas for banana bread, just put them in a plastic bag with some apples....)

jwales...@ids.net

unread,
Mar 31, 1994, 5:04:01 PM3/31/94
to


kjfaskdj;sfj;dsfj

exit


exit


?
f
q

Sol Lightman

unread,
Mar 31, 1994, 11:13:03 PM3/31/94
to
Using an as yet undetermined appendage jwales...@ids.net wrote:

]kjfaskdj;sfj;dsfj

]exit


]exit


]?
]f
]q


But he forgot to add a title for the work. I suggest
``Scratching at the silicon door.''

:-)

B.

--
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst | _________,^-.
Cannabis Reform Coalition ( | ) ,>
S.A.O. Box #2 \|/ {
415 Student Union Building `-^-' ? )
UMASS, Amherst MA 01003 ver...@twain.ucs.umass.edu |____________ `--~ ;
\_,-__/
* To find out about our on-line library, mail a message with the
* pattern "{{{readme}}}" contained IN THE SUBJECT LINE.
* You will be mailed instructions; your message will be otherwise ignored

0 new messages