# Type of Alcoholic Drink Influences Hangover **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123 "2008-08-07T03:17:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KRSOradio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/0ea827/32.png) [@KRSOradio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRSOradio)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/1 "2008-08-07T03:17:45Z")
I am not much of a drinker and never have been hungover but I was reading on how different types of liquor influence the type of hangover and the severity or even if you get a hangover. Is this correct. From what I gather gin and vodka are the least likely to produce a severe hangover while red wine, brandy and whiskey will give the worst. Is this correct? If so why? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/2 "2008-08-07T14:11:11Z")
The answers to lots of questions can be found using Google. It helps to use quotes to get specific hits. I typed the following into Google (without the brackets): [hangovers “type of alcohol”]. My third hit gave answers: > **[The Claim: Some Types of Alcohol Cause Worse Hangovers Than Others (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07real.html?n=Top%2FNews%2FScience%2FTopics%2FResearch)** > > Experts say that the type of alcohol you drink does make a difference, but for various reasons. > [@](#): > > Experts say that the type of alcohol you drink does make a difference, but for various reasons. Among the most important is the amount of congeners (pronounced CON-juh-nurz) — complex organic molecules — in a particular drink. Impurities in poorly refined spirits like cheap vodka can also play a role, but congeners, which are common in darker liquors, seem to have the greatest effect. > > According to one report in The British Medical Journal, which looked at the effects of different types of alcohol, the drink that produced the most hangover symptoms was brandy, followed by red wine, rum, whiskey, white wine, gin and vodka. Another study showed that bourbon was twice as likely to cause sickness as the same amount of vodka. > > There is also wide variation within certain categories, like wine. Wines that come from countries where a small change in climate can greatly affect their quality, some experts say, can contain significantly more hangover-inducing compounds in a bad season. Inexpensive red wines, in particular, have a reputation for causing sickness. But that may be because some people suffer from a syndrome called red wine headache, whose cause is unknown. What scientists do know is that the wines that cause it vary from person to person, and across brands, grapes and price. ---
**Author:** ![KRSOradio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/0ea827/32.png) [@KRSOradio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRSOradio)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/3 "2008-08-07T19:33:30Z")
[QUOTE=x-ray vision] The answers to lots of questions can be found using Google. It helps to use quotes to get specific hits. I typed the following into Google (without the brackets): [hangovers “type of alcohol”]. Of course I did this, but my original question says just the opposite of your answer was found, I was looking for the correct answer, not the one Google thinks is most popular ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/4 "2008-08-07T21:24:50Z")
I have friends who swear mixing types of alcohol make them more hung over [like drinking beer and wine, or wine and tequila based drinks over the course of the evening instead of sticking to just beer, or just wine, or just manhattans] Oddly enough, I have never gotten a hangover from alcohol, but sweet jesus, high fructose corn syrup will give me a hangover like you would not believe … about 30 minutes or so after I do pretty much anything with HFCS, I start getting a migraine. If for some reason, I do HFCS and immediately go to bed so I don’t notice and get my midrin down, I end up with a 3 day migraine that nothing touches. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/5 "2008-08-07T21:32:04Z")
Post number eight in [this previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=469782) may provide a good starting point for an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/6 "2008-08-07T21:34:27Z")
\*\*Bouv \*\*nicely summarized the reasons for hangovers in a previous [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=469782&highlight=everclear): [QUOTE=bouv] Eh, I doubt it. There’s three main things that contribute to a hangover: 1. Dehydration. Alcohol itself dehydrates you. If you ix it with water or juice this effect will be small to non-existent. Beer and soda–mixers will dehydrate you more in the long run, so that’s why a night full of screwdrivers is better in the morning that a night full of carbombs, even if the amount of ethanol is the same. 2. _Other_ stuff in the booze (the aforementioned congeners.) Depending on whether you have beer, hard liquor, or wine, there will be other things in there that your body won’t like. The closer you are to pure ethanol, the less of these there will be. 3. The alcohol itself. Alcohol gets broken down by the liver into several other chemicals, none of which are good for your body. This is the only part of a hangover you truly have _no_ control over. The same amount of ethanol, whether it’s beer, Everclear, or red wine, will make the same amount of these chemicals. So, as said before, the reason for less of a hangover is because you are reducing the effects of #1 and #2. But in my experience, any kind of not-_completely_ bottom-shelf vodka (ie, not the $8 for a handle, go at least double digits there) will get similar results, since vodka is just ethanol and water as well. [/QUOTE] Number two is your answer. Congeners are more present in darker liquors and will cause a more sever hangover. ETA: OK **MissMossie** , that was weird. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/7 "2008-08-07T21:39:47Z")
**Lakai** , are you the weird looking guy at the next table in the coffee shop? ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/8 "2008-08-07T21:57:39Z")
I think situationality, or whatever the less-awkward word would be, is underrated in hangover prevention. Apart from the issue of congeners, one rarely drinks alcohol in a vacuum (aha ha) or in isolation (I kill me). In my experience, whatever else you ingest while you’re drinking has a pretty substantial effect on your overall metabolic profile. Again IME, sugar is key to fueling hangovers, while water and some kind of balanced carbs and protein (e.g., a sandwich) are mitigators. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/9 "2008-08-07T22:01:35Z")
Weird, I would class whiskey and brandy as those drinks that give me the least hangover. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/10 "2008-08-07T22:20:53Z")
Cogeners (also called [fusel oils or fusel alcohols](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusel_oil)) are alcohols other than ethanol which are present in alcoholic beverages and lend themselves to the beverage’s flavor profile. Isopropanol, methanol, butanol, and furfural are all examples. The cogeners in alcoholic beverages contribute greatly to the hangover effect, but are not entirely responsible for it. Consuming pure ethanol will give you a hangover, but cogeners make it substantially worse. SKYY vodka is currently the closest any commercially-available distilled spirit comes to being a pure solution of ethyl alcohol in water, and will cause the mildest hangover when compared to any other alcoholic beverage for any given volume of EtOH consumed. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/11 "2008-08-07T22:31:23Z")
[QUOTE=aruvqan] I have friends who swear mixing types of alcohol make them more hung over … [/QUOTE] I’ve heard that many times, but I don’t think it is true. My theory is that it is not the mixing alcohol that worsens the hangover, it is the fact that when you mix drinks, you don’t realize how much you drank. If you slam 6-8 shots of Jack, you might expect not to feel great the next day. But you could easily have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, a couple of beers at the bar followed by a shot or two, and before you realize it, you’ve had a lot to drink. > [@](#): > > **An Gadaí** > Weird, I would class whiskey and brandy as those drinks that give me the least hangover. I can drink Patron (tequila) all night and feel great the next day, but a couple of Long Islands and the next day I am wiped out. Not in pain, but just no energy. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/12 "2008-08-07T22:41:11Z")
[QUOTE=Washoe] SKYY vodka is currently the closest any commercially-available distilled spirit comes to being a pure solution of ethyl alcohol in water, and will cause the mildest hangover when compared to any other alcoholic beverage for any given volume of EtOH consumed. [/QUOTE] Where did you hear this? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/13 "2008-08-08T03:13:30Z")
[QUOTE=Lakai] Where did you hear this? [/QUOTE] Go to their web site. They have a chart showing the results of an independent assay which measured fusel alcohol content of several different vodka brands. Several other vodka aficionado sites also back up the claim. Smirnoff (the one with the red label) is almost as clean, and usually runs about 5 bucks less a magnum. Also, large doses of thiamin, cysteine, and ascorbic acid taken _before_ drinking will substantially reduce acetaldehyde toxicity and protect against hangover. This really works—I used to use this mixture all the time when I was in college. Using it in conjunction with a good clean vodka should enable you to drink with almost complete impunity; you can very possibly wake up the next day with almost no discernable aftereffects. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/type-of-alcoholic-drink-influences-hangover/459123/14 "2008-08-08T04:06:14Z")
[QUOTE=Washoe] Go to their web site. They have a chart showing the results of an independent assay which measured fusel alcohol content of several different vodka brands. Several other vodka aficionado sites also back up the claim. Smirnoff (the one with the red label) is almost as clean, and usually runs about 5 bucks less a magnum. [/QUOTE] I found a paragraph, but no chart making this claim. A Google search tells me that the study was done with just the most popular vodkas. I wouldn’t conclude from it that Skyy is the purist vodka available. Something not tested could be more pure.