A glass of wine in, life looks a little lighter. After two, you’re transformed from control freak into carefree. But add another Vodkatini and you’re inviting the hot bartender back to yours.

Ever wondered how alcohol affects you? David Goding investigates…

After 1 drink

You’ve settled down with your friends for a chat and giggle and just started on your first glass of wine. There are some awkward pauses in the conversation and you drink it down faster than you intended. You’ve just ingested 0.2g of alcohol per litre of blood or a 0.02 per cent BAC. The conversation starts flowing and you head to the bar for another.

After 2 drinks

By the time you move back to your seat your friends are laughing hysterically but you’ve got no idea why. You’ve missed the joke, so you start on drink number two. If this is consumed within 45 minutes of starting your first drink, your alcohol level will be around 0.3–0.5, depending on how much you’ve eaten. At this stage, you’re likely to feel the first pangs of euphoria, warmth and unreasonable optimism.

After 3 drinks

A third drink suddenly appears and you’re on a roll. Suddenly you’ve developed opinions you didn’t know you had and have a punchline for everybody else’s. By the time you’ve drained your glass, you’ve drunk three glasses in an hour and have blood alcohol levels of 0.6-0.8. Anything seems possible. You can’t drive now. This could be a long night. You think about that until your powers of concentration start to wane.

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