Drinking through a straw gets you drunk quicker

simonp · 149569. Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:31 pm

When i were a teen it was 'common knowledge' that drinking booze through a straw got you drunk quicker.
Any ideas how this modern myth got started?
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I have learnt that the most accurate answer i can ever give is "I don't know"

Zaphod Beeblebrox · 149571. Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:33 pm

Straw manufacturers?

samivel · 149579. Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:43 pm

Izzardesque · 149696. Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:24 am

Something to do with the bubbles created? Also possibly all that sucking makes you lightheaded!!

Baz94 · 149701. Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:07 am

Persons who drink beer with a straw are possibly already drunk, obiter dictum. It is indeed correct that when you drink beer with a straw you get drunk faster compared to when you drink beer in a regular way. When creating a vacuum while sucking on the straw, the boiling point of alcohol drops (in normal circumstances 79 degrees Centigrade) and alcohol vapours are created in the straw. These vapours are inhaled in the lungs, and via that way the alcohol gets into the blood much faster than the alcohol that ends up in the stomach by drinking it the normal way.
Moreover, beer gets into the mouth by means of a straw in very narrow jets, as a result of which it has a larger surface in the oral cavity. As a result of this more alcohol can evaporate before it is swallowed. The palate (with a loot of blood circulation inside) already absorbs part of the alcohol vapours. Also this is a shorter way for the alcohol to get into the blood and to make you drunk faster.
When drinking the same amount of beer the effects on one’s health remain the same whether you drink the beer in a normal way or with a straw, provided that one gets drunk faster when drinking with a straw. The total amount of alcohol does not change.

(from beer and health website: http://www.bierengezondheid.be/index_eng.jsp?Page=Doc231&Doc=forum )

samivel · 149740. Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:28 am

Good stuff, Baz :)

Quaintly Ignorant · 149800. Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:59 pm

I began rigorous testing of this theory ten years ago. I'll let you know when I get any results... (hic)