# Alcoholics can't tell the difference between different brands/types of liquors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912 "2007-02-05T12:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/1 "2007-02-05T12:19:25Z")
A friend told me that he use to drink different types and brands of alcohol in college but never gets drunk so he could remember the differences. Alcoholics, he tells, can’t tell the difference because they assume all alcohlic drinks are the same. Any truth to this? ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/2 "2007-02-05T12:40:11Z")
I have absolutely no idea where this foolishness came from. Speaking as a former quart-of-vodka-a-day alcoholic, I had no problem telling the difference between different liquours. Someone who drinks out of neccessity, though, might choose a liquour for its cheapness and availability rather than its taste… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/3 "2007-02-05T12:57:27Z")
I was a wino, and I could always tell the differences between different types of wine. I’m calling bullshit on that one. I think your friend is in denial–I can tell the differences, so I’m not a alcoholic. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/4 "2007-02-05T13:08:41Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] I was a wino, and I could always tell the differences between different types of wine. I’m calling bullshit on that one. I think your friend is in denial–I can tell the differences, so I’m not a alcoholic. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that was my thought, too, immediately after I hit Submit of course. Especially the claim that he never gets drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/5 "2007-02-05T13:58:18Z")
Of course they can tell. Some alcoholics don’t care…they’re in it solely for the buzz. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/6 "2007-02-05T17:04:13Z")
I can’t afford $12.00 (!) for a pint of Jack Daniels, but I can afford $7.00 for 750 ml of VIP American Whiskey. Whaddaya think I choose normally? Joe ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/7 "2007-02-05T17:32:29Z")
That’s ludicrous. Of course alcoholics know the difference. They are just more likely to drink something cheaper for the buzz. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/8 "2007-02-05T19:36:05Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Of course they can tell. Some alcoholics don’t care…they’re in it solely for the buzz. [/QUOTE] Precisely. Drinking something that tastes nasty because you just want that buzz (case in point: one time in HS a friend brought over some whiskey, and the only thing I had on hand to mix it with was root beer; it tasted like Vicks 44, but I drank it anyway), isn’t the same as not being able to tell the difference between that and something good. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/9 "2007-02-05T20:20:07Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Of course they can tell. Some alcoholics don’t care…they’re in it solely for the buzz. [/QUOTE] Yep - in the end that was me! But then again I was onyl drinking the high end Vodka’s…Popov et al. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcoholics-cant-tell-the-difference-between-different-brands-types-of-liquors/390912/10 "2007-02-05T20:30:10Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] A friend told me that he use to drink different types and brands of alcohol in college but never gets drunk so he could remember the differences. Alcoholics, he tells, can’t tell the difference because they assume all alcohlic drinks are the same. Any truth to this? [/QUOTE] You don’t lose your memory just because you get drunk. I was drunk last night and remember every detail. When you black-out that’s a different matter but you have to be very drunk to black out. If you are used to spirits, you can tell the difference. In the same way you can tell Coke from Pepsi.