Commonly used term which refers to ethanol-containing alcoholic beverages. However, more broadly, the term can also be applied to any organic compound with a hydroxyl functional group bound to a carbon atom, such as methanol.
Questions tagged [alcohol]
89 questions
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votes
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Does water bring out the flavor and aroma in scotch?
I've often heard that adding just a few drops of filtered, room termperature water to scotch helps to "bring out the flavor and the aroma." The scotch guy at my store told me it involves a chemical reaction; that barley is a tightly wound grain, and…
Big McLargeHuge
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"La fée verte": Is Absinthe hallucinogenic?
Absinthe is a distilled, alcoholic beverage, sometimes referred to as "la fée verte" (the green fairy).
Absinthe was banned in many countries during the early 20th century:
1906 - Brazil and Belgium,
1909 - Netherlands,
1910 - Switzerland,…
oosterwal
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Does drinking alcohol through a straw make you drunk quicker?
It is said that drinking alcohol through a straw gets you drunk faster. For example, The Drunk Pirate
I have absolutely no scientific explanation for why drinking alcohol through a straw gets you drunk so fast. It just does. Now granted there’s no…
Samuelson
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Recommended alcohol drinking quantity: are they just making it up?
From an NHS website:
To lower your risk of health problems, the NHS recommends that:
men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day
women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units of alcohol a day
'Regularly' means…
Dave Hillier
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20
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1 answer
Does eating greasy foods 'help soak up alcohol'?
I've heard that eating greasy foods while drinking or while hungover is good because it helps 'soak up the alcohol'. This is common advice it seems while drinking. Is there any truth to it?
GBa
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Does beer kill brain cells?
Oh, Lisa, you and your stories. "Bart is a vampire." "Beer kills brain cells." Now let's go back to that...building...thingy, where our beds and TV...is. -The Simpsons
It isn't just Lisa Simpson, though, that claim that excessive and/or long-term…
Jivlain
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Did the US government spend millions of dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly?
According to this site, "Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job." Is this true, and, if so, what program are they referencing?
jrdioko
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Beer goggles: Can alcohol make people look more attractive?
Image Source
The Cambridge Online Dictionary:
If you say that someone is wearing beer goggles, you mean that they have been drinking so much alcohol
that they think someone is more
sexually attractive than they really
are.
The Mythbusters tested…
Oliver_C
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Does drinking coffee, or any other activity, help sober a person?
This article claims that:
Also, despite popular belief, "Only time will sober a person up. Drinking strong coffee, exercising or taking a cold shower will not help." So, if you're buzzing but think you'll be alright after a caffeine binge and…
Flimzy
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2 answers
Does bread contain traces of alcohol?
Many times when the religious permisibility of alcohol is debated (especially in substances with small amounts of alcohol in it) people will claim that even bread has traces of alcohol. How valid is that claim? Is there a published survey of the…
System Down
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17
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Is any amount of alcohol during pregnancy safe?
Doctors seem to always say a woman shouldn't drink at all during pregnancy. But then I have heard a midwife say "it would take a lot of constant drinking to cause fetal alcohol syndrome; you'd be fine with a glass of wine once in a while."
It would…
Taj Moore
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Do societies that are less abstemious have more sensible drinking patterns?
Questions about whether alcohol consumption is good for you or not have been asked here before (see Is alcohol beneficial in small amounts? and Recommended alcohol drinking quantity: are they just making it up? ).
But a recent review of the evidence…
matt_black
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Does alcohol consumption have an effect on radiation poisoning?
I've just watched the Vice video Hunting the Radioactive Beasts of Chernobyl where they claim that drinking alcohol would prevent (or at least reduce) radiation poisoning effects.
However, I've been unable to find any credible material online that…
Oliver Salzburg
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Is Red Bull and Vodka more dangerous than other spirit cocktails?
I've always liked Vodka + Red Bull for how it gets me drunk but also wakes me up and gives me more energy to dance or go out or whatever.
But now my Polish friends are telling me the combination is banned in France and that Polish cans used to have…
Dave Hilditch
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Did the military start the "No alcohol after vaccines" meme?
The Travel Doctor (a chain of clinics that does vaccination for travellers) claims
Can I drink alcohol after vaccines?
[Don't drink too much after Japanese Encephalitis vaccine]
The myth about "no alcohol after receiving vaccines" may have begun
…
Andrew Grimm
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