Alcoholic drinks that don't give a bad hangover

Good wine does not bother me nearly as much. A key is to not get drunk; another key is to hydrate while you drink.

I have always done well with good quality vodka i.e. Grey Goose, Belvedere...

I think I have heard/read somewhere that you can also strain your alcohol through a Brita Filter to eliminate any impurities...and thus, supposedly help reduce the hangover effect.

Also, it never hurts to drink a glass of water between each serving.

Sake

Unless you are drinking pure crap, hangovers have more to do with how much you drink.

How much are you drinking?

As others have stated, hydration also plays a major role.

seriously, i had 3 cans of san miguel last night and i had a hangover this morning, and am fed up with it. i'm female and about average weight for a runner.

it was after a track session, so it's very possible i was dehydrated (although this happens at other times - i feel fine, not drunk, and am ill the next day).

that brita thing is a myth. doesn't anyone watch discovery channel??

Hangovers are just about how much you drink, how hydrated you are, and how much food is in your body. The feeling of a hangover is caused by dehydration, withdrawal from alcohol, and your nervous system being overactive after being depressed for a while. It doesn't matter what you drink (to a point, beer WILL fill you up and hydrate you a little more than a shot of liquor will). It certainly doesn't matter what brand/quality of drink you drink. Grey goose certainly tastes better than orloff or any other plastic handle, but the hangover is the same.

Moral of the story: drink a glass or two of water before bed, then have a bit to eat and you'll wake up feeling great.

So that is why the shot in the morning helps

boozehound wrote:

Hangovers are just about how much you drink, how hydrated you are, and how much food is in your body. The feeling of a hangover is caused by dehydration, withdrawal from alcohol, and your nervous system being overactive after being depressed for a while. It doesn't matter what you drink (to a point, beer WILL fill you up and hydrate you a little more than a shot of liquor will). It certainly doesn't matter what brand/quality of drink you drink. Grey goose certainly tastes better than orloff or any other plastic handle, but the hangover is the same.

Moral of the story: drink a glass or two of water before bed, then have a bit to eat and you'll wake up feeling great.

Complete and utter nonsense. Alcoholics don't have hangovers at all yet they get extremely de-highdrated, and you try mixing beer and wine and notice the difference compared to drinking the same volume of alcohol in one type of drink.

It's likely not what you drink but how much, how fast you drink. Moderation, pacing, is likely the answer for you.

To the person who said that Grey Goose gives you the same hangover as a cheap plastic handle is dead wrong. Grey Goose (or any other expensive vodka) goes through at least one more round of distillation (maybe 2, i forget)than the cheapo stuff. Every time you distill vodka or any other liquor you remove a little bit more methane. The less methane you consume the less hungover you will be.

Obviously this is holding all other things constant. The best way to avoid a hangover (from personal experience) is to stay awake for a while after you are done drinking and eat some food and drink some water or gatorade.

fmr wrote:

Every time you distill vodka or any other liquor you remove a little bit more methane. The less methane you consume the less hungover you will be.

not true. hangovers come from a build up of acetaldehyde, which is a breakdown product of both methanol (not methane) and ethanol.

this occurs because the enzyme - acetaldehyde dehydrogenase - which responsible for breaking down acetaldehyde to acetate, gets overwhelmed.

that's why the only thing that "cures" a hangover is time. you have to have time for the enzyme to work. alcoholics DO get hangovers, but by drinking a lot they stimulate their liver to produce more enzyme (i.e. they build up their tolerance). so an alcholic won't feel a hangover a 3 beers like your sister might, but he will feel it if he saturates his enzyme.

incidentally, the drug they give to alcoholics to help them quit is called disulfiram, which blocks the enzyme completely. thus, it gives alcholics a massive hangover with only the smallest amount of alcohol. something like mouthwash would knock them out.

consider that your biochemistry lesson for today.

fmr wrote:

To the person who said that Grey Goose gives you the same hangover as a cheap plastic handle is dead wrong. Grey Goose (or any other expensive vodka) goes through at least one more round of distillation (maybe 2, i forget)than the cheapo stuff.

Makes little difference really, on the hangover that is.

One thing is certain though, staying hydrated will reduce the hangover.

Our bodies, as runners, are much less efficient with water if we are constantly forcing fluids... An alcohlic who is chronically dehydrated can with stand havingless water b/c their body is operating on desert-island mode, using very little water.

Ever wondered why your sweat does not smell? Becasue the water was probably consumed like an hour before you ran, as opposed to an overweight, out of shape dehydrated person who has had the water stgnating in their body for a long while, brewing with the toxins.

Bongholio wrote:

. VODKA IS VITRUALLY TASTELESS! They even did taste tests on those pretenders and they couldn't even ID "their brand." They instead picked the cheapest vodka as the one they thought was their expensive yuppy vodka. Fools.

Npt too long ago there was an episode of 20/20 with a bunch of young posers. They were asked which vodka they liked and which ones they thought were bad.

They all liked Grey Goose, or so they said. When they did taste tests they all rated it as one of the worst vodkas and most liked some of the cheaper brands.

[/quote]

VODKA IS VITRUALLY TASTELESS! [/quote]

Don't forget VIRTUALLY ODORLESS and COMPLETELY COLORLESS, making it a great midday choice for alcoholics. I guess it does have subtle diferences depending on ingrediants and how it's made but most people mix it which makes it impossible to tell.

A few months back the NY Times Wine Tasting experts and writers, whom whether you like the Times or not, have outstanding reputations, did a taste test. They lined up the same "premium" vodkas people had been drinking before the Vodka boom (Stoli, Smirnoff,), Absolut (early entrant to poseur list) and all the poseur versions (Grey Goose, Ciroc??) with pretty bottles. Guess which brand won on taste...Smirnoff.

I will say from a marketing perspective, that the folks marketing all that crap are geniuses. You have to love seeing poseurs getting ripped off.

i think what you drink (wine, beer or spririts) does make a difference, i.e. it's not down simply to quantity in terms of units of alcohol. i certainly know mixing drinks gives a horrible hangover, and beer always gives me a hangover whereas other things don't.

it was interesting to read that concept about our bodies, as runners, being less efficient with water. i drink more water, milk and fruit juice than anyone i know, so maybe my body reacts very badly to dehydration, hence the bad hangovers?

interestingly, when i drink spirits i drink them with tonic water, so maybe the hydration is counteracting the alcohol.

"To the person who said that Grey Goose gives you the same hangover as a cheap plastic handle is dead wrong. Grey Goose (or any other expensive vodka) goes through at least one more round of distillation (maybe 2, i forget)than the cheapo stuff. Every time you distill vodka or any other liquor you remove a little bit more methane. The less methane you consume the less hungover you will be."

Methyl alcohol boils in a lower temperature. When you distill, it comes out first. If done properly, the number of rounds of distillation should not matter. You don't get hang over from quality moonshine!

For the original poster. Here is a great drink. One portion of quality moonshine, 5 portions of boiled water, two tea spoons of sugar. Voila!

Lots and lots of cheap champagne never gives hangovers.

People I know swear the Bonterra Line of Organic wines from California(Brown-Forman) is next morning friendly.