Social drinking 101: How not to get drunk and embarrass yourself in front of people
Having a few drinks with work colleagues can exist a perfect way to unwind after a long mean solar day. But for Sharon Lee (non her existent name), in that location's 1 particularly embarrassing night she would rather forget.
The 38-year-quondam business manager was hanging out with her boss and a few friends at piece of work. It had been all well and proficient – until she ordered a gin and tonic.
"I'm not much of a drinker and didn't have much to eat, but I took a sip from my friend. I thought it was tasty and refreshing, so I ordered one for myself. The drinks were i-for-one so I thought I'd have the other one, besides," she said.
It went downhill from in that location. "I got dizzy and excused myself to go to the bathroom, where I threw up. I thought I was better but the infinitesimal I walked out, I felt some other pukefest coming on!"
Thankfully, her colleagues were polite about it and helped her out. Nonetheless, it was all rather embarrassing. "My boss and the people I piece of work with every 24-hour interval were all in that location!" she moaned.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU'RE INTOXICATED?
Getting drunk is never a good thing, especially in social situations. The last thing you'd want to do is make a fool of yourself in front of your engagement or officemates.
Merely what if yous're the type who tin can't really handle your beverage – or just don't realise you've had plenty?
Lee's Merlion moment is only one example of what happens when you're non prepared for that beverage. As head bartender of whisky and cocktail bar Flagship, Jerrold Khoo has seen it all – whether it's someone who starts breakdancing in the middle of the room, tranquility types who suddenly get super talkative or those that simply knock out.
And so there are the not-and then-amusing types. "Some customers do get verbally and physically calumniating. Some male person customers may start getting touchy with ladies," said the 28-year-old Diageo Globe Form Singapore Bartender of the Year for 2018.
Given a recent, rather sobering, study on the furnishings of alcohol, what you do when intoxicated is probably exist the least of your worries. Just seeing that y'all'll probably exist thrust into situations where a bit of social drinking might be involved, it's best to be aware of certain things.
ARE YOU Decumbent TO GETTING DRUNK EASILY?
There are those who think, rather smugly, that these incidents won't happen to them. Merely actually, who you are can literally influence your tolerance for booze.
According Dr Lui Hock Foong, a gastroenterologist at Gleneagles Hospital, some people are more susceptible to getting drunk than others – if yous're plump, brusk and happen to be of the fairer sex, approach that drink with caution.
"A person with more body fat compared to a lean person of the same weight, or those of a female gender – because the female body carries more body fat – are less tolerant to alcohol," he said.
Why? Alcohol enters and dissolves faster through h2o-rich tissues, like musculus, instead of fat. If y'all've got more of the latter, the tendency is to have a college concentration of booze in your body.
Then, in that location are also genetic considerations. According to Dr Lui, some people just accept more enzymes that process that tequila shot meliorate than others.
WHAT SHOULD I Guild IF I Tin'T Agree MY Beverage?
And so if you're unfortunately the type who gets drunkard easily, how do you lot avoid a potentially viral video post of you doing the cha-cha in front of your bewildered dominate at a company night out?
A lot of it is common sense, starting with what you lot eat.
While being on the heavy side does make the alcohol piece of work faster, eating fatty foods earlier drinking actually helps.
It's the same logic – that butter-rich dish slows down the stomach's process of emptying itself and holds the booze in there longer, before beingness released into the minor intestines, where most of the absorption takes identify, said Dr Lui.
As for what potable to order, don't feel pressured into ordering one simply because everyone else is doing then, said Khoo. (After all, you're no longer a teenager are you?)
If you really think having a Coke Nix sounds lame when everyone else is going for their proseccos and Chiliad&Ts, he suggests sticking to tea and java. Most bars would have a range of teas and a Nespresso machine, while proper cocktail confined would have a range of mocktails or can make 1 upon request.
WHAT Type OF ALCOHOLIC Drinkable SHOULD I GET?
If yous desire something alcoholic, go for options with a low ABV or Booze-Past-Volume, which signifies the percentage of ethanol (booze) is in a given volume of drink.
On one finish of the spectrum are the beers while on the other stop are your spirits and hard liquor. According to William Kerr, a scientist at the Booze Research Group of the Public Wellness Institute, the average ABV for beer is 4.5 per cent (keep an eye out for arts and crafts beers that tin sometimes go in a higher place 10 per cent). For vino, it'due south 11.6 per cent while for liquor, it's 37 per cent.
READ: Kanpai! Singapore's growing ambition for sake
ARE SOME COCKTAILS STRONGER THAN OTHERS?
When it comes to cocktails, Khoo said certain ones are definitely stronger than others, such every bit those that are stirred not shaken, and are "spirit forrard", which are made with strong spirits softened by liqueurs, bitters, vermouth or fortified wine.
He added: "Drinks without juices, like Manhattan, Dry Martini, Vieux Carre and Ruby Claw are all slightly stronger drinks than Whiskey Sour, Margarita – the improver of juices and shaken drinks too dilute the ABV farther."
Khoo's go-to drinks are either an Aperol and soda or a Campari and freshly squeezed orangish juice. Y'all might too want to consider cocktails such equally the Pompier (cassis, dry vermouth and soda) and Americano (sweetness vermouth, campari and soda).
Incidentally, he's off in October to represent Singapore in the Diageo World Class competitions, where he'll be presenting a low ABV mixed potable called The Conscious Mule, which is made of vodka, ginger, carrot, apple, lime and honey.
"It looks into replenishing and stimulating the body with vitamins and nutrients," he explained.
WHAT'Southward THE LOWDOWN ON BUBBLY, DARK BEERS AND MIXING DRINKS?
If you're considering champagne, pay heed to those bubbles, said Dr Lui.
"Consuming sparkling booze – where the bubbles expose more than booze to the tum and abdominal linings – would lead to more than rapid assimilation, which results in a higher concentration of blood-booze, which in plow causes intoxication more hands."
READ: Beloved a good gin and tonic? Fourth dimension to upwardly your game
Every bit for whether darker drinks are stronger, that's not the case. "Dark beers, ale and stout are ofttimes low in alcohol content than lager," he explained.
When it comes to spirits, the risk is actually in terms of hangovers and non getting drunk per se. "Darker spirits such as rum and whisky may comprise impurities which are more likely to crusade hangovers than vodka or gin," he said.
READ: Singapore chefs reveal their fail-proof remedies for a bad hangover
What well-nigh mixing drinks and the order you drink these? Do sayings like "beer earlier vino yous'll feel fine" really hold any, erm, h2o? Not actually.
"Generally intoxication is related to the corporeality and rate of alcohol entering the bloodstream. Therefore mixing drinks merely leads to consuming more alcohol simply is no different from taking the large amounts of the same type of alcohol. The intoxication take chances is the same."
Which ways, knowing your ABVs is cracking but don't forget your maths – everything does add upward.
HOW LONG SHOULD I NURSE MY Beverage AND Pace MYSELF?
Existence aware of what you're drinking is of import, but at the end of the day, information technology'southward really nigh pacing one's self, said Khoo.
A shot of absinthe? Sure. 5 straight ones? Not a pretty sight. "I get many customers who pout upon hearing 'tequila' but information technology's all due to bad experiences doing tequila shots – it's actually a lovely spirit. The general rule of pollex is ane drink every 45 minutes and I detect three drinks to be the safe corporeality," he said.
Nursing one's drink is the play a joke on to non getting intoxicated, added Dr. Lui.
He pointed out that sensible drinking means limiting your consumption to no more than than 14 standard drinks in a calendar week. A standard drink equals either a small glass of vino, a shot of spirits or one-half a pint of beer.
There are other tricks to fend off drunkenness other than pacing yourself. One of which includes, well, actual pacing.
"I realised the alcohol wears off faster when I'm busy behind the bar as compared to if I'grand not moving effectually," said Khoo.
Other tips? Nibbling on some snacks and drinking lots of h2o. "There was as well one time when I was given a 151 shot (which is equal to 75 per cent ABV) and immediately felt the buzz," he recalled. "I drank a gallon of water to sober myself up – and it worked!"
WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN THE Buzz HITS ME?
Of course, there might be an example when, despite all your efforts, the inevitable happens and you lot feel "tipsy".
This, said Dr Lui, is already a ruddy flag. "Being simply tipsy is non fine; this is already the 2d stage of alcohol intoxication, which is that of excitement causing poor coordination and slight drowsiness," he said.
Would coffee help? While it might stimulate the torso and perk you upwardly, it doesn't hasten the sobering procedure – drinking water is nevertheless the best selection.
And when you eventually either do a Merlion or pass out, there are more immediate things to exist worried almost other than disapproving looks from your boss and colleagues the next day.
"Airsickness when ane is semi-conscious has the chance of causing 1 to inhale the vomit into the lungs and this is potentially life-threatening," said Dr Lui, whose advice is for your now-suffering friends to keep you in a seated position or lying sideways on the left shoulder.
Hopefully, when all this is over, your friends volition still be talking to yous and yous withal have a job.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/cna-lifestyle/social-drinking-101-how-not-get-drunk-and-embarrass-yourself-front-people-258046
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