uuuggghhhhh........

[FlashPuppy]

well, i have this 1.75 bottle of jim beam white label which i have been trying to get rid of for a while now. last night a bourbon buddy of mine came over, and we took care of that.

fast forward to this morning.

so i was sitting on the couch eating a banana, trying to nurse my hangover, and i thought to myself, "this is the worst hangover i have ever had. surely there has to be a better mixing whiskey."

what do you all use for whiskey-coke* drinks? what has the least morning after effects? come to think of it, what makes one whiskey's hangover different from another?

* a whiskey-coke drink for myself is 40/60 mixed, add ice.

[boone]

A key note :grin: :grin:

After a night of drinking...Drink "a lot" of water before you go to bed...

Bettye Jo

[jburlowski]

Bettye Joe is right... the key for too much bourbon (or other alchohol) is water, lots of it... try one 12-16oz bottle / glass of water per drink consumed. You may be up all night but you will feel better for it in the morning.

[BobA]

Ditto on the water. For mixers, I like OGD BIB and WT 101. They have enough flavor and proof to assert themselves when mixed. Actually tasting the whiskey might slow down the consumption a bit and help with the morning. I don't think any specific bourbon (or any other drink) will really be less prone to cause a hangover; it's basically the amount of alcohol you consume, plus things like body size and water sloshing around in there.

Bob

P.S. I was once told that the Norwegian phrase for "hangover" translates as "tiny workmen in my head." True? The translation I mean, not the description; that I know.

[boone]

Actually, one of my college professor's told me that little trick...

To make a long story short :grin: :grin: ...Dehydration will cause a hangover...

If you went way over the limit :bigeyes: ... drink plenty of water before you go to bed and wear your depends :slappin: :slappin: :slappin:

I ain't had a hangover since :grin: :grin:

:grin: :grin: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh :grin: :grin:

Bettye Jo

[gr8erdane]

I'll add a little side note to this as I have heard/experienced the water issue myself. On every trip you make to the bathroom during the night, drink more water to replace what your body has just expelled.

[TimmyBoston]

My favorite mixer is Buffalo Trace. (I also enjoy it neat) Its very smooth and flavorful but not overly potent both to the tastebuds and for the next morning. And the price isn't much higher than Beam White.

To ease your hangover, you can always mix with less whisky relative to coke (you may or may not want to do this)and like everyone's already said drink lots and lots of water. When I was in college I always kept a half gallon of water next to my bed to drink throughout the night. Also a bit of chocolate in the morning can help soothe your stomach.

[TimmyBoston]

Also when I want to avoid hangovers I drink my bourbon neat (or with a few drops of water). It may be much stronger but I drink my drink much slower and since I'm savoring it I drink fewer drinks. If I mix or drink my whiskey on the rocks, I tend to drink way too many drinks since they go down so easy and I usually down one in less than five minutes. For me, drinking neat, I enjoy my spirits more and I feel much better the next day.

Once again a glass of water on the side never hurts.

[Ambernecter]

A post about a huge hangover on your 13th post - how spooky!

All the advice above is good. Water is the one thing that will help you not suffer the next day.

If I ever have a few drinks indoors then I always make sure I have a glass of water for each glass of whiskey. I drink over 1 gallon of water a day anyway - even in Winter.

It scares me that a huge % of the population is chronically dehydrated and with that slight dehydration leval comes a massive drop in physical and mental performance. I drop clangers and make mistakes like everyone else but at least it's because I'm dumb (which I can do nothing about) and not dehydrated!

[BarItemsPlus1]

Another tip...

If you have had too much and feeling just a bit queezy - I recommend drinking warm water, it helps settle the stomach....

[pepcycle]

Before Bed

2 ginger tablets

1 Pepcid AC

1 vitamin B complex

Water, 16 oz.

I always try go with the "break the seal rule"

Once I start drinking, I always drop to <1 drink/hour after I "Break the seal"

[cowdery]

As maybe you have deduced from the answers already received, a different brand of bourbon won't lighten your hangover. It has long been believed that fusel oils cause hangovers, a point of view promoted by the makers of premium vodkas. It's bunk. Hangovers are caused by dehydration and other stress on the body that comes from ingesting a lot of ethanol. Drinking water during and after is good advice, so is getting some food in your stomach along the way, and so is drinking less.

[CrispyCritter]

I generally prefer my Coke/Pepsi separate from my bourbon. Have a sip of bourbon, wait for the finish to trail off, then have the non-alcoholic drink to act as a buffer.

[TimmyBoston]

As maybe you have deduced from the answers already received, a different brand of bourbon won't lighten your hangover.

Very true but avoiding barrel proof bourbons may make things easier for you if you will consume the same amount by volume. An ounce of Lot B has much less alcohol than an ounce of stagg.

[BourbonBalls]

I rarely get a hangover from drinking bourbon neat . . . its the mixture of sugar and alcohol, (like bourbon and coke, or vodka and sweet mix, or Margaritas) that seem to give me the headache...

I've noticed that when I've had bourbon...and then anything sweet right after like a sweet dessert.

[cowdery]

The effect of sugar combined with alcohol, as in a sweet mixer or even something like champagne, is to get the alcohol into the bloodstream faster. You get high faster and your hangover comes on sooner.

[elkdoggydog]

As mentioned above, a vitamin before bed helps, as alcohol inhibits your bodies ability to absorb vitamins from the food you've eaten. Water is also key.

As for the next morning, Gatorade is a big help. It rehydrates you, and helps further replace nutrients thrown out of balance by the alcohol consumption.

[FlashPuppy]

well, i wanted this to go more in the direction of what everybody mixes drinks with, but it has seemed to go more into the hangover direction, so, oh well.....

thanks for all the advice!

[Gillman]

I don't think one straight whiskey is less hangover-causing than another.

Experience has suggested to me that vodka and Canadian whisky, all things being equal, will be less likely to induce hangover. This makes sense since they contain less of the fusel oils that are known to contribute to this unfortunate condition. Still, enough of anything will cause the condition in question.

If you mix (anything) with sweet drinks, the possibility of a hangover is increased, as others have noted.

My rule is: drink anything you want, but limit it to two or three. If you do that, no matter if you drink a lot of water or not, you'll be fine the next day. Moderation is the way to go. Also, drink slowly.

Gary

[Sijan]

Hangovers aside, there are a lot better bourbons to be mixing with your coke. I'd recommend Jim Beam Black, Wild Turkey 101, Old Grand-Dad BIB, Old Forester 100 proof as good quality mixers that aren't so good that you feel bad about not drinking them straight. (Don't get me wrong, these bourbons are good straight as well, but the price is right for mixing too.)

[tgriff]

My rule is: drink anything you want, but limit it to two or three. If you do that, no matter if you drink a lot of water or not, you'll be fine the next day. Moderation is the way to go. Also, drink slowly.

Gary

Yep..i've had a few tough lessons due to not practicing moderation. So I second that advice.

With bourbon or whiskey in general, the only "mixers" I really like are a couple of ice cubes or maybe a splash of cold water.

[elkdoggydog]

I agree with Gillman, tgriff, and the others who advocate moderation. Hangovers are your body's way of letting you know that you recently poisoned yourself.

I like to mix with OGD, as the rye cuts nicely through the sweeter mixers, notably ginger beer. OGD, as Sijan mentioned, is available at a good price, and is good on its own, too. WT 101 would be good for the same reasons. As for a Manhattan, I use rye, like Old Overholt or WT Rye. Again, nothing too fancy, but nothing I don't mind drinking neat.

[BobA]

I recommended as mixers OGD BIB and WT 101 because in my mind, "mixer" is something to keep around for any mixing, whether with ginger ale or in a good cocktail. These meet the "good, but" criteria Sijan suggests, and are assertive enough in taste and proof to let you know in any mixed drink that there's bourbon there. But you may want something that sort of slides more gently into Coke. That's not my drink, but I'd try, well, pretty much every "base" bourbon. The standard Evan Williams, Old Forrester 86, Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star, Very Old Barton of any proof, are all candidates. Each should be, at most, the same price as Beam, probably cheaper, so experimentation is easy. And each, in my opinion, would be a more interesting drink to have around for someone who wants to drink his bourbon neat, or with water.

Bob

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

well, i wanted this to go more in the direction of what everybody mixes drinks with, but it has seemed to go more into the hangover direction, so, oh well.....

thanks for all the advice!

My own experience with bourbon and coke is that younger bourbons are more suitable than older bourbons. The woodier notes just don't go well with Coke, at least for me. At four or five years the vanilla notes are to the fore and the stronger flavors, spice, leather, etc. are in the background. Here in Japan I like I. W. Harper Gold Medal 80 proof in my occasional bourbon and Coke the best.

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

Before Bed

2 ginger tablets

1 Pepcid AC

1 vitamin B complex

Water, 16 oz.

I always try go with the "break the seal rule"

Once I start drinking, I always drop to <1 drink/hour after I "Break the seal"

I had been meaning to start a hangover thread and here it is.

Ed, I like your semi-scientific hangover cure. I take an oyster shell calcium tablet instead of the Pepcid AC, but that is because of availability rather than choice. B complex vitamins are great, too, though I sometimes take a multi-vitamin instead. I have recently begun taking ginger and turmeric together when I have had too much to drink. Not tablets, just powdered ginger and turmeric mixed in water, that or I use the oblate that Japanese use to take powdered medicine. That is a sheet of rice starch paper, I think that is what it is anyway, that the powdered medicine it poured onto. It is then twisted up, dipped in water, and swallowed. Water is a given.

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned yet is getting enough sleep. That can be tough to do since the times I have too much to drink tend also to be times I stay up too late, still, sleep is right up there with water as a hangover cure.

Ed