Vodka and indeed all distilled spirits are incredibly popular across the globe, i know i enjoy many of them myself. However, it can be difficult to know how many is too much. Maybe you have to work, drive, look after the kids etc and just don’t want to end up drunk. But the question then is, how many shots of vodka to get drunk? How many vodkas does it take on average?
How many shots of vodka to get drunk?
The CDC states it takes the average 160lb adult male, 4 standard vodkas to get drunk. A standard shot of vodka is 1.5fl oz and 40% ABV. The 4 vodkas have to be drank over 1-2 hours. If you are a female or lighter then it will take less vodka, if you are a significantly heavier male, it may take 5+ shots of vodka to get drunk.
What does drunk actually mean, what is the definition?
We need to know how to scientifically judge what “drunk” is under the law. It needs to be a bit more precise than not walking too straight.
A blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% is classed as legally intoxicated in the US.
We now need to see how many standard drinks would get your BAC to 0.08%.
How do you feel at different blood alcohol concentrations?
As you drink more alcohol than your liver can metabolise, your BAC rises. The effects of a rising blood alcohol concentration has been tracked by many studies.
Lots of informational websites include this data now.
- 0.02% – Probably the lowest measurable BAC where you can track any brain issues. You may feel more relaxed and potentially make poorer decisions.
- 0.05%: When you hit this BAC, your behaviour will may become over exaggerated. Speak louder and gesturing more are common. You may also begin to lose control of small muscles like the ones that control your eyes leading to blurry vision.
- 0.08%: This is the current legal driving limit in the U.S and many areas around the world. It is also the legal definition of intoxicated in the US. You will likely lose some coordination, so your reaction times, speech, balance, and even hearing will deteriorate.
- 0.10%: As we reach this BAC, reaction times and control will be reduced further. Your speech will be slurred, you think slower, and your coordination becomes poor.
- 0.15%: Getting up to twice the legal driving limit now. You will have much less control over your balance and voluntary muscles. We have all seen someone who finds walking and talking difficult after a lot of alcohol. Falling and injuring yourself is a real possibility now.
What is a standard shot of vodka?
Vodka can come in lots of unique shapes, sizes, strengths and from all over the world. What one person thinks of as a standard vodka might be completely different from someone else.
Luckily for everyone, the USDA have devised a list of “standard” alcoholic drinks. Each one contains the exact same amount of alcohol – 14g of alcohol (0.6 ounces).
Below is a list of the standard drinks, volumes and ABV that all give 14g of alcohol.
| Drink and volume | Alcohol content |
| 12fl oz Beer | 5% |
| 5fl oz Wine | 12% |
| 1.5fl oz Spirit (e.g Vodka) | 40% |
So as you can see, a standard vodka is a 1.5fl oz and 40% alcohol by volume. I will be using these figures for the calculations.
How many standard vodkas to get drunk?
How many vodkas does the average adult need to drink to get to a BAC of 0.08% and drunk under the law?
The CDC tells us that the average 160lb adult male will need to drink 4 standard drinks, in this case vodka, to get to a BAC of 0.08%.
The answer is therefore, it would take 4 standard vodkas to get drunk. These need to be drank over 1-2 hours however, as your liver will start breaking down the alcohol in your blood as soon as it encounters it.
How does weight affect the number of vodkas to get drunk?
How physically big you are has a huge impact on the amount of alcohol it takes to get you drunk. If you have ever been out drinking with friends, you might notice the larger ones seem they they have hollow legs compared to the smaller ones.
Alcohol is distributed throughout the body so if you have more actual body, less of the alcohol will remain in your bloodstream, lowering your blood alcohol concentration.
Below is a table of how body size might affect the “4 vodkas to get drunk” rule.
| Number of vodkas | 140lbs | 160lbs | 180lbs | 200lbs | 220lbs |
| 1 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| 2 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| 3 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.05 |
| 4 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.07 |
| 5 | 0.13 | 0.12 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.09 |
How does sex affect the number of vodkas to get drunk?
Biological females get intoxicated quicker and with lower amounts of alcohol. This is due to a few reasons.
A female will on average be smaller than a male, they have circa 40% less alcohol dehydrogenase (the enzyme that breaks down alcohol) than an equivalent male and they have a higher percentage of fat to lean mass so more of the alcohol is in their bloodstream.
Below is another table of how many shots of vodka it would take a female of various sizes to get drunk. Remember the magic number to be classified as drink is 0.08% BAC
| Number of vodkas | 140lbs | 160lbs | 180lbs | 200lbs | 220lbs |
| 1 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| 2 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.04 |
| 3 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.06 |
| 4 | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.08 |
| 5 | 0.16 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.10 |
What other factors affects how quickly you get drunk?
Ethnicity
Different ethnicities have variants of some key genetic components that are needed to break down alcohol and therefore their blood alcohol concentration spikes quicker.
Notable examples would be people of Asian or Native American descent can have reduced levels of alcohol dehydrogenase, which breaks down alcohol. This means they would get drunk quicker and on less beer.
Last meal
Nearly everyone knows if you drink on an empty stomach you will get drunk quicker. The local term we use here is “soakage”, as in you need some before a big session on the beer.
A large meal, close to when you are going to start drink, will lower the absolute peak of your blood alcohol concentration. The food delays the alcohol leaving your stomach and into the bloodstream.
Tolerance
The more you drink the more tolerance you can build up to the affects of alcohol.
Energy levels
If you feel especially tired or have had a lack of sleep, you will feel the intoxicating effects of alcohol sooner than if you were well rested.
Medication
If you mix alcohol with sedating prescription medications or illegal drugs then these can work to enhance the sedative affects of alcohol and make you feel drunk much quicker.
Mood
Believe it or not, having very strong motions like anger, fear or being lonely can bring on the affects of alcohol quicker. If you are out at a bar with the expectation of being drunk, you may well feel drunk sooner as well from the placebo effect.
Hormones
Some birth control pills or drinking at the premenstrual stage of a woman’s cycle can lead to higher blood alcohol concentrations.
How many non alcoholic and alcohol free vodkas to get drunk?
If it takes 4 standard vodkas to get drunk, it would take 320 shots of non alcoholic vodka and 3200 shots of alcohol free vodka to get drunk.
You can read all the math on my non alcoholic gins to get drunk and alcohol free gins to get drunk articles
