How Often Do You Get Drunk?

Agreed. I think I've been drunk once this year. I don't really see the appeal. After a few drinks you stop tasting whatever it is that you're drinking, and it's expensive to get drunk anyway (not to mention of course that it's not good for your health)!

Since I started appreciating Scotch (single malts in particular) several years ago I pretty much stopped getting drunk (maturity might've played a part also!), because for me, appreciation of a good whisky definitely trumps getting drunk.

I think the only time I've been drunk since my son was born 3 years ago is last year when I went out of town to a wedding and didn't have my son around to take care of. Otherwise, except for maybe a couple times a year, I don't have any more than 3 oz. of whisky in a night (usually more like 2 oz.). I can't imagine being drunk and then having my son need me for something.

@valuewhisky, I feel the same; with my two little kids there can always happen something and I have to be clear and sober. I enjoy Wine or Whisky but I know when to stop - I drink for the taste and fun but not because of the effect of alcohol so I do not get drunk.

@maltster and @valuewhisky - knowing limits is important, especially when there are others around that may need you. I generally limit myself to two to three drams of whisky a week (25ml to 30ml per drink), and usually never more than two drinks in one night. The only exception to this rule is at our Scotch Tasting events, where we have between five and six bottles, but then the drinks are spread out over four or five hours, and interspersed with water and fairly simple food.

As @ systemdown has said, I don't see the appeal in getting drunk: I'd rather enjoy the taste of what I'm drinking, and remember the conversation with good friends. Appreciation over inebriation!

I'm with valuewhisky and maltster on this one. It's amazing how my two little kids have a sobering impact. It's not that I fear I would have to drive to the hospital in an emergency or something, my wife is around too and does not drink much. Rather, it is more having to go through the high energy routine of child care, job albeit mostly during the week, house maintenance and yard work, being a husband etc. while hungover or headachy the next day. It's happened a few times and trying to chase around kids with a headache and cottonmouth on a weekend morning is not fun. Mainly though it happens when on vacation with my family and my father has a heavy hand pouring red wine. Fortunately there is lots of child care around the next day.

Even if I could, I just don't like the feeling of being overly intoxicated. Fortunately I have an innnate switch and lose my desire to have more after 2 to 3 drinks over a few hours.

@YakLord Wow, that's some serious restraint to have only 3 oz. a week! I limit myself to one pour 4 nights a week, but a pour is almost never less than 1.5 ounces (to the widest part of the Glencairn glass). I tried to limit to 3 nights a week for a while, but I couldn't hold out there :-P

Maybe this is just because I'm lucky enough to have a son who goes to be early, so I always have a couple hours of quiet time in the evening. When he gets older and bedtime gets later, I may not be able to have so much whisky.

oops, "be" is supposed to be "bed"

@valuewhisky - it is a budget issue as well as an appreciation issue. If I can squeeze 25 to 30 drams out of a bottle, then the overall cost / dram drops significantly, and I only have to replace a bottle once every couple of months or so...plus I don't have a lot of time in the evenings, which I generally spend doing housework, etc. So, two to three nights a week, I get to sit down with a good book, or curl up on the couch with my wife (who is also reading), and enjoy a wee dram.

@YakLord I can relate to that. I wouldn't be able to drink this volume of just single malt. Happily, I live in the US and enjoy bourbon, and drink my fair share of sub-$25 bourbon (e.g. Buffalo Trace, Elijah Craig, Wild Turkey, Rittenhouse, etc). That keeps costs down overall.

I'll have 2-3 proper drams a night 5 or 6 nights a week. I take a week or two off every couple of months ("two weeks without drinking is a new liver!") I get properly drunk about once a year, usually a boys night out to see a band with taxis home. It's fun once in a while. I'm thankful that I am not built for it as an ongoing state.

I've long held the belief that the more one drinks the less the enjoyment. However, I don't subscribe to the notion that to have a drink every day is injurious to health. I have a generous Malt, most days, 2 1/2 fl. oz. enjoy it, and am never drunk.

maybe it's the beer talking, marge, but you got a butt that won't quit. they got these big chewy pretzels here that are alajyaoucatbeerwyk.... five dollars??!!!? get outta here.....

@SquidgyAsh I hate you SquidgyAsh... I love you SquidgyAsh... I HATE YOU SQUIDGYASH... I LOVE YOU SQUIDGYASH. You mUsT HavE CrUeL PareNTs to GiVe YoU THAT NamE, I HATE YOU SQUIDGYASH

Define drunk? Unable to drive? All the time...getting sick? Almost never. Somewhere in between? As often as I feel like, which isn't that often. It's almost never on whisky though...wine pairings with a tasting menu is more my speed for drunkeness. As long as I don't hurt anyone, or get behind the wheel, I don't see any issue.

I'm a former rugby guy...quitting drinking forever might kill me. Lol.

@Wodha Hahaha thanks? I'm sorry? I'm confused!

For the record since I just realized I didn't say anything about how much I drink I tend to have whisky around 4 to 6 nights a week and I usually cap it at 2 60 mil drams. The exception will usually be tastings. Then I might have up to 12 drams (most so far in a tasting session) but more often then not those tend to be half drams and I usually spend 3 or more hours with lots of food and water in between.

Beer I'll have a couple of times a week mainly due to my job, but even though I work around some really good beer I'm not such a fan of it since I find a glass or two and I can start feeling drunk.

The definition of drunk I'm going with would probably be judgement impaired, throwing up, blacking out.

I rarely ever get drunk. Like a few others, maybe once a year, during a new years or christmas party in the past, or to celebrate when my Cardinals won the World Series last fall.

Typically, I drink 5 or 6 days in any given week. I'll have a glass of wine paired with dinner, and later that night I might have a dram of one or two different whiskies. On the nights I'm having two, I usually start the evening with a un-peated or lightly peated whisky, and end the evening sampling something where the peat smoke dominates.

The only time I drink more than two drams in an evening, is when I'm attending a tasting.

Guys, let's define what getting drunk is. If it's loosing control and doing weird things than I maybe was in that state of mental order couple of times in my entire life. If it's drinking to the point I have a marvelous, fantastic evening but severe headache in the morning, than it's happening 1-2 times per month (from replies above I am the most alco-frenzy person here). Of course it is not connected with whisky only. As wine, beer and vodka are so damn tasty as well))

I get drunk weekly....I only discovered that I liked whisky last yesr (at the age of 44!!)...I drink bitter when at the pau as whicky is way too expensive.

At home it is wine or whisky.

There is nothing wrong with being drunk as long as you dont lose control...or is that the definition of drunkenuss (new word)?

I have often had discussions with fellow drinkers from all walks of life asking this importants question.....Would you drink whisky,wine or beer if there was no alcoholic effect?

Isn`t that why we do it?

My tuppence

Max

....and yes I am quite drunk as I`m writing thsi :)

For me I rarely get drunk, expecially off scotch. Currently on nights where the next morning can be a sleep in I generally keep having nips of different whiskys from the cabinet until I get a good happy, calm, light headed feeling. On uni nights when I have no outstanding homework and have a sleep in morning my current gulty pleasure is this kind of scotch sampling while staying up till 2am in the morning watching cooking shows on YouTube.

I'm in my early twenties and well i party like 10 times each year. And I tend to get drunk everytime, cause i like it. But here comes the huge BUT! I would NEVER get drunk on a singelmalt whisky i just spent 50 £ on. Partying is fun bu tno the same thing as drinking a nice whisky!

Never. Don't like how I feel and I would hate to waste good whiskey on getting drunk.

Now not very often at all, I don't like being drunk, being merry I enjoy

The only time I get drunk is when I'm enjoying an evening and forget how much I've had! Then it hits me that I've had too much

Caffeine is my major weakness, the same way people habitually have a cigarette I have a coffee I would say smoking is a worse habit so at least I don't do that

Basically every time I go to see my in-laws (mother in-law).. its the only way I can stand to be there.

I typically have one or two drams per day. I find that any more than that and my tastebuds go numb. Sometimes I like to have two very distinct drams in an evening - say, a Balvenie Double Wood followed by an Ardbeg 10 - and any more than that and I find that any real taste sensation is lost. In the past year, I have been actually drunk twice. As I have gotten older, drinking for the sake of getting "wasted" - as was most often the case in college - has most definitely lost its appeal. The next couple days after getting drunk are absolutely hellacious, and I detest the fact that along with getting drunk comes a loss of control. This is not to say that getting a little buzz or slightly tipsy isn't fun, which it is: it's just the fact that the consequences from getting drunk don't justify it.

Sorry, posted before I was finished. As I have gotten older, I drink to appreciate flavors and to relax. If I wanted to get drunk, I could do it much less expensively by buying a 12 pack of cheap beer or a jug of wine. I love the exploration of various whiskies, and do not drink them for the sake of over indulgence of alcohol.

I appreciated that you all shared your experiences. I feel that getting drunk means that your loose control, do things you wouldn't normally do, and regret it the next morning. I've done this a few times in my teens and 20s, but now, about once a week, I'll get very nicely high (not drunk) with a friend or two, or if alone, go out for a good walk afterwards. I drink lots of water, and have adequate food, and never have morning hangovers. I always taste numerous whiskies in one session (12 sips make up about one ounce ... 30 ml). Most importantly, it's good to share with friends, or with that special lady. The good Scotch augments the evening, but is not allowed to dominate.

We are all very lucky to have discovered the pleasure of spirits !!

I haven't been drunk since my brother's wedding in 2006. I usually have two or three drams three or four nights per week, and I make it a point to lay off for several days when it occasionally becomes an every-night thing. Getting drunk is fun for about 10 minutes, then that swirly, sick feeling sets in. There's also the hangover to contend with the next day. Who needs it? Three drams and I'm feeling pleasantly "tittly," and that's as far as I take it before my body tells me "that's enough."

Since I'm (only) 31 years old, single, most of my friends are in their twenties, and, well, Belgian, I go out almost every weekend. I'm not the clubbing type, so we go to a pub, or watch a match of the football club we support (and go to the pub afterwards). Mostly one night a weekend, sometimes two.

And not unoften I end up drunk. Not as drunk as belgian athlete Gijs Van Houcke on the 2012 Olympics (if you haven't heard about it, google him!), but too drunk to be allowed to drive. And drunk enough to have a bit of a headache the morning after at regular basis.

Please note that I never go out with the intention of getting drunk (I don't bingedrink and only drink beer when I go out), but if you're having a good time with your friends, it can be 5 a.m sooner than you think.

This being said, I have never been drunk on whisky, and never plan to, since a good single is a terrible thing to waste, by pouring it down like a shot of cheap tequila. I enjoy my whiskies and never drink more than 3 drams of it at one evening. And only at home (or a friend's home), never in a pub.

Hope I don't come across as a drunk here.

@Fons "The British tabloid awarded him a gold medal for best Olympic partying" haha :P

What do you think, who is the better drinker: Belgian or Dutch? ;)