To many people, the alcohol content of a drink is the most important factor – trumping even taste. This is for one reason: people want to know how many sips, glasses, or bottles of a certain alcohol it takes to get drunk.
When it comes to Smirnoff Ice in particular, people drink this drink because it tastes simply delicious. But these same people often find themselves wondering about the Smirnoff Ice alcohol percentage and how many they need to drink before its effects are felt.
Whether you want to know about Smirnoff Ice’s alcohol content to find out how many you’ll need to drink to get drunk, or when to stop drinking them so you stay sober, this article is for you. Here’s everything there is to know about getting drunk on Smirnoff Ice.
What is Smirnoff Ice?
Before you dive right in and discover how many Smirnoff Ices it takes to get drunk, it’s important to know what Smirnoff Ice actually is. Surprisingly, this answer is dependent on where you are in the world.
If you’re in the United States, the Smirnoff Ice in the fridge of your local liquor shop is classed as a malt beverage. But if you’re anywhere else on Earth, a Smirnoff Ice is a vodka-based alcopop that is available in 21 different flavors including:
- Mandarin Orange
- Green Apple
- Mango
- Pomegranate
- Blueberry
- Wild Grape
- Strawberry Acai
- Pineapple
- Watermelon
- Ruby Red Grapefruit
Whether referring to the malt beverage or the vodka-based one, Smirnoff Ice has become known for its sweet, refreshing, and fruity taste. Because of its delicious taste and lack of bitterness, it has a high level of drinkability which means it’s very easy to drink far more than you originally planned on drinking.
But will drinking one too many lead to tipsiness or drunkenness? Let’s find out.
How Much Alcohol Does Smirnoff Ice Contain?
For some reason, a lot of people think that Smirnoff Ice contains very little alcohol and that you will need to drink them in excess to get drunk. As it turns out, those people are incorrect in this assumption.
Generally speaking, a single Smirnoff Ice contains the same amount of alcohol as a single regular beer does. Depending on the specific flavor you pick, this means that the Smirnoff Ice alcohol percentage is between 4.5% and 5%.
If you’re wondering whether 4.5% alcohol is enough alcohol to get you drunk, the short answer is that it can be if you drink enough of it. Let’s find out more about this.
How Many Smirnoff Ices Does it Take to Get Drunk?
The truth is that you can get drunk from drinking Smirnoff Ice. For most people, it will take an average of four 22oz bottles of Smirnoff Ice to get drunk – but this number is just a general guideline.
It’s difficult to determine how many Smirnoff Ices it takes to get drunk because there are several factors that need to be considered. Here are the four most influential factors in determining how many Smirnoff Ices it takes to get drunk.
1. What You Weigh
The biggest factor that influences how many Smirnoff Ices you will need to drink before feeling drunk is your body weight. The less you weigh, the less you need to drink in order to get drunk. Likewise, the more you weigh, the more you need to drink in order to get drunk.
For example, a man that weighs 160 pounds will need to drink four Smirnoff Ices before he starts to feel any drunkenness. But four Smirnoff Ices will have little to no effect on a man that weighs 220 pounds, and he will need to neck at least five 22oz bottles of Smirnoff Ice before he is classed as being over the legal limit.
2. What Your Tolerance to Alcohol is
Another contributing factor to how many Smirnoff Ices it takes to get drunk is your overall tolerance to alcohol. Alcohol tolerance, which is largely determined by your body weight, is defined as “the bodily responses to the functional effects of ethanol in alcoholic beverages.”
If you have never tasted alcohol before, a single Smirnoff Ice could have you feeling wasted. If your hand is never without a double tot of whiskey in it, a Smirnoff Ice will have the same effect on you as drinking a glass of water.
3. What Else You Have Consumed
Drinking on an empty stomach is a fool proof recipe for getting drunk quickly. This is because when there is no food in your tummy when alcohol hits it, it moves directly to the small intestine and is absorbed into your body. If you have lined your stomach with food before eating, it will take much longer for your body to absorb the alcohol into your bloodstream.
While none are capable of preventing the effects of alcohol from being felt, certain foods like bread, yoghurt, salmon, avocados, bananas and fat-heavy foods can slow down the effects. In that same vein, there are also a handful of foods that will make you feel drunker quicker, including salty foods and those that are low in calories.
4. What the Weather is Like
It might sound strange that the weather has an impact on how many Smirnoff Ices you can drink before getting drunk, but it’s true. When the weather is hot, you get drunk faster which means you don’t need to drink as much as you normally would when the weather is colder.
This is a particularly important consideration when it comes to drinking Smirnoff Ice. Thanks to its fruity flavor and refreshing taste, Smirnoff Ice is most often enjoyed as a way to cool down on warm days.
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Can You Get a Hangover from Smirnoff Ice?
Because it is possible to get drunk on Smirnoff Ice, it is possible to get a hangover from drinking a few too many. The symptoms of a hangover include nausea, headaches, heartburn, red eyes, dizziness, depression, diarrhoea, fatigue, increased blood pressure and a rapid heartbeat to boot!
Due to the delicious taste of Smirnoff Ice, it is exceptionally easy to drink too many and end up on the receiving end of a hangover. If you do wake up with a hangover, you can cure it by:
- Upping your water intake: When you have a hangover, the alcohol in your system escapes through your sweat and urine. If you have diarrhoea or vomiting, it will escape in these ways too. To lessen the symptoms of your hangover, and prevent dehydration, plenty of water is a must.
- Upping your alcohol intake: Drinking more alcohol to overcome the effects of drinking too much alcohol sounds crazy, but it’s true to a degree. The idea behind this hangover cure is that the alcohol you consume masks the symptoms of the hangover you have by boosting endorphins. This method is known as “hair of the dog” and, scientifically speaking, there’s some truth to it.
- Upping your carb intake: Because drinking lowers your blood sugar, the effects of a hangover are heightened when you haven’t eaten. A big oily breakfast at your local diner is sure to make you feel much better.
- Upping your painkiller intake: Of course, one of the most effective ways to cure a hangover is to treat the symptoms. Most painkillers will get rid of your hangover, but Tylenol (acetaminophen) will have a negative impact on your liver if there is any alcohol left in your system so avoid this brand and ingredient as far as possible.
Final Thought
When picking your poison, Smirnoff Ice is as good a pick as any. If you’re not a big drinker and are looking for something light, cool, and refreshing to enjoy at a barbeque then Smirnoff Ice will be your ideal drink. If you enjoy getting drunk, but don’t like the taste of ‘stronger’ alcohol, then you can’t go wrong with a bottle (or four!) of Smirnoff Ice.
If there’s nothing you enjoy more than sipping on a cool Smirnoff Ice on a hot day, after reading this article you’ll be able to enjoy it responsibly. Though it is tasty and oh-so-easy to drink, Smirnoff Ice is still alcohol and can get you drunk if you drink enough of it.
In order to determine how many Smirnoff Ices it will take to get you drunk you must consider your body weight, tolerance to alcohol, what is already in your body, and what the weather outside is up to. So, do you have your party weekend planned responsibly now?