How different rums affect you

[Tiare]

There is something i never was able to figure out..but i got a good answer from Ed.
When i mix with any rum that is 80 proof its just as usual - normal that is, but when i mix with Havana Club 7 its different because always the alcohol goes straight up my head..and i wasn`t able to figure out why is that?
Could it be that this rum is so sugary? (at least it tastes so,its extremely easy to drink) or could it be that because i like it a lot to mix with..i always adds a lot in the drink?
But on the other hand i never make weak drinks,i want the rum taste to predominate.
So what could it be?
Well, Ed told me that the Havana Club 7 is sweeter than it used to be. More sugar, and alcohol, makes you feel the effects of alcohol more.
But what is funny then is that there is a difference when i drink say 100 proof agricole and this HC7, because with the HC7 my head feels much "cloudier" than when i drink a higher proof agricole.
Figure it out.

[stockdoct]

Tiare

Alcohol certainly affects different people differently. Women statistically get more intoxicated than men (even with same body size and weight) due to differences in water content of our bodies. Food will certainly slow absorption of alcohol from our stomachs, especially fatty/greasy foods (or creamy drinks like Baileys) which keeps food, and booze, from passing from the stomach to the intestines where it is absorbed into the blood. It's often said (but I don't believe it) that carbonated drinks affect the drinker quicker than "flat" drinks ....... its suggested the higher pressure from the carbonation pushes material from the stomach into the intestine ......but again, it really doesn't make much sense when you know the anatomy of a stomach.

But whether 20 grams of ethanol from beer would affect a single individual differently than 20 grams of ethanol from whiskey? That's simply not founded by any science ..... and to understand why one RUM would affect an individual more than another rum?????? If there is any truth at all to the "different drinks affect me quicker/slower" argument, this concept pushes itself way over the table edge.

I have to believe that if you feel more affected by one rum than another, it simply has to be something other than the rum sweetness or cogeners. Perhaps you tend to drink a certain rum before meals, and another after? Perhaps you make one drink stronger than another? Its definitely something other than the differences in rum.

Dr. Mike

[Hank Koestner]

I think it is important to have a decent amount of food in your stomach when drinking. For me, the higher the proof, the faster I will feel it after the first drink. I always drink in moderation, but there are those times when you have a couple of extras.
I have had the opportunity to drink Havana Club over the last 3-4 years. I noticed the last bottle I opened to have a slightly sweeter taste then the one before. I could not tell if it was cogeners or added sugar. I keep notes on each bottle I open. That one has since been consumed, but there is one more on the shelf unopened.
I do believe high sugar content in a drink may have something to do with how fast we may feel alcohol.
Dr. Mike is also correct, people process alcohol differently, and technically, and ounce of alcohol is an ounce of alcohol.

[stockdoct]

I do believe high sugar content in a drink may have something to do with how fast we may feel alcohol.
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There's more sugar in the pineapple wedge on the edge of your drink than the difference between a shot of your sweetest and driest rums.

[Tiare]

I suppose it has a lot then to do with what other mixers are in the drink, some are more sugary than others combined with what you may have or haven´t eaten. And then how sweet the rum is.

[Edward Hamilton]

Originally Posted by stockdoct

I do believe high sugar content in a drink may have something to do with how fast we may feel alcohol.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


There's more sugar in the pineapple wedge on the edge of your drink than the difference between a shot of your sweetest and driest rums.

I was ready to ask this when you answered my question. While the amount of sugar even in some sweetener rums is relatively small, it has been my belief that the combination of alcohol and sugar affects us differently than straight alcohol.

And while everyone agrees that an ounce of alcohol from a glass of beer is the same as an ounce of alcohol from a rum drink few of us are affected the same way, primarily due to the congeners. I know that I am affected differently when I drink single malt whiskey and when I drink rum. And different rums also have different effects, assuming I've been eating the same amount of food.

[RobertBurr]

Originally Posted by Tiare

when i mix with Havana Club 7 its different because always the alcohol goes straight up my head

technically, this is known as the "Ricky Ricardo Effect"

It affected Lucy in much the same way, causing her to be extremely funny, act a bit more animated and start having children right away.

be careful with that stuff...

[Hank Koestner]

The RR effect...........too funny. I am still laughing.

[stockdoct]

I had a neighbor once ...... a delightful older lady who would dispense wisdom and advice in our shared-backyard of our duplex when I was young and in school. Once, she came out with her (usual and LARGE) glass of Seagrams 7, but this time also brought out a glass of water. She popped her blood pressure pills, followed it with a large gulp of water, and then hung out with us for the next hour, drinking her whiskey as usual.

I had to ask ...... why the water? She responded that her doctor tells her NOT to take her medicine with alcohol.

:-)

From her perspective I guess it made sense, but we still laugh about it when we think of her. But its true, that your intestines don't care if you swallowed a sweet Limoncella with gobs of sugar, or drank a dry distilled rum mixed into a mai tai, or had a glass of red wine 10 minutes after sampling a dark chocolate. The sugar is still there, just like my neighbor's alcohol was there with her medicine.

I have to ask, because I really haven't experienced the difference you speak of ..... HOW do you feel different after imbibing a single malt scotch rather than the same alcohol content of rum????

[Tiare]

Never yet tried to use artificial sweetener in my drinks so i donґt know about the difference when it comes to if artificial sweeteners leeds to a higher rate of alcohol absorption by the body. But maybe it is so?
Anyway my HC7 is now Christened to my RR Rum.