Do Different Types of Liquor/Alcohol Really Have Different Effects? If so, why? If not, why do people claim they do?

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I’ve seen people claim that getting drunk off of X causes them to party, while getting drunk off of Y causes them to sleep, and getting drunk off of Z causes them to be more depressed, but X causes them to be more happy, etc.

Is this actually true? If so,

– I presume it’s dependent on the person, so what physical or mental differences in a person make them more or less likely?

– What about the alcohols could affect this?

– How does what you mix it with take a role? (Like do Citrus mix-ins have a different effect than caffeine mix-ins, etc).

If it’s not true:

– Why do people claim that it’s true so fervently?

Edit: So the consensus seems to be “The difference comes from the atmosphere and emotions you have going in. The alcohol itself likely has little difference. However, some alcohol has more or less histamines, melatonin, or are often paired with things with more sugar or caffeine, or contain more or less fluids to hydrate, so these all may play roles”.

In: Chemistry

28 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I know scientifically it seems to be all-but-proven that alcohol is just alcohol. However, I will say, that when I drink vodka alone in my room and try to play video games, I do well. I’m more alert than, say, with Rum, especially with rum I feel very sluggish and typically just put the game down due to my lack of being able to perform, keep my eyes open, process information. But with vodka… could game all night. No preconceptions, nothing in my head about it, just drinking 2 different kinds and going off how I felt. With the change in alcohol being the only differentiating factor between the identical situations, I’ve always believed different alcohols impact you differently.

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