Alcohol Content...
It's not how many drinks that you have, but how much alcohol that you consume. As you can see from the chart (Table 1) below some drinks are more potent than others.
Excerpted from: http://www.intox.com/physiology.aspThe concentration of the drinks that one ingest can have a slight effect on the peak alcohol concentration due to the differences in absorption rate of different concentrations of alcohol. Alcohol is most rapidly absorbed when the concentration of the drink is between 10% and 30%. Below 10% the concentration gradient in the gastrointestinal tract is low and slows absorption and the added volumes of liquid involved slow gastric emptying. On the other hand concentrations higher than 30% tend to irritate the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract and the pyloric sphincter, causing increased secretion of mucous and delayed gastric emptying.
Alcohol Content of Some Typical Drinks (Table 1)5
| Drink | Alcohol Content |
| Manhattan | 1.15 oz. (34 ml) |
| Dry Martini | 1.00 oz. (30 ml) |
| Malt liquor -12 oz. (355 ml) | 0.71 oz. (21 ml) |
| Airline miniature | 0.70 oz. (21 ml) |
| Whiskey Sour/Highball | 0.60 oz. (18 ml) |
| Table Wine - 5 oz. (148 ml) | 0.55 oz. (16 ml) |
| Beer - 12 oz. (355 ml) | 0.54 oz. (16 ml) |
| Reduced Alcohol Beer | 0.28 oz. (8 ml) |
Mixed drinks are based on
typical drink recipes using 80 proof liquor.
The amount of alcohol in actual mixed drinks may vary.
Alcohol Content (in Percent) of Selected Beverages (Table 2)6
| Beverage | Alcohol Content (%) |
| Beers (lager) | 3.2 - 4.0 |
| Ales | 4.5 |
| Porter | 6.0 |
| Stout | 6.0 - 8.0 |
| Malt Liquor | 3.2 - 7.0 |
| Sake | 14.0 - 16.0 |
| Table wines | 7.1 - 14.0 |
| Sparkling wines | 8.0 - 14.0 |
| Fortified wines | 14.0 - 24.0 |
| Aromatized wines | 15.5 - 20.0 |
| Brandies | 40.0 - 43.0 |
| Whiskies | 40.0 - 75.0 |
| Vodkas | 40.0 - 50.0 |
| Gin | 40.0 - 48.5 |
| Rum | 40.0 - 95.0 |
| Aquavit | 35.0 - 45.0 |
| Okolehao | 40.0 |
| Tequila | 45.0 - 50.5 |