Can you get used to a liquor?

Question

I drink McCormicks vodka pretty regularly. For those of you who don't know, it is a bottom shelf brand. The problem is, the past few times i drank it, I didn't even get a buzz let alone drunk. Is it possible for your body/brain to get used to one type of liquor? Can I buy possibly a different brand of vodka and have better results??

Answer 1

If you're drinking it and not getting a buzz off of it, then you're drinking it too often and too much.

Take a break from booze altogether for a while.

Give yourself a month with no booze. If you make it the entire month, then the Vodka will start having its effects again.

If you can't make it an entire month, then re-read what I'm saying. You're drinking too much and too often.

Answer 2

You can build up some tolerance to alcohol, but not to the point where it has NO effect. The type of liquor makes no difference, vodka and whisky are just ethyl alcohol with some water and flavoring created in the distillation process.

If you're not feeling it, you've either developed a huge tolerance or you are ignoring the signs. Either is dangerous.

Answer 3

You can build up a tolerance to ethanol, the type of alcohol found in all alcoholic drinks.  Put simply our body has the ability to process ethanol into acetalehyde, and turn that into acetic acid.  The process of breaking down the ethanol is controlled by how much of the enzyme responsible for that action is in our body.  We can learn, through repeated exposure to ethanol, to produce more of this enzyme to help remove the ethanol quicker.  Essentially, that's how tolerance works; the result being that you need to drink more alcohol to feel the same effect, and it doesn't last as long as it used to.  

All vodka (I'll use standard 80 proof for the moment), is 40% ethanol and 60% water.  (100 proof just change it to 50/50).  It doesn't matter what brand, that's what it is.  [There are trace amounts of other things, and depending on what and how much there are is how you come up with the idea of a quality vodka.  Ideal vodka is 40% ethanol, 60% water.]  So, switching brands won't help you.

Also, since other liquors are just ethanol and water, that won't help you.  

No, I think your tolerance is too high.  You need to take a break, a few months without drinking should do it.  Your tolerance should drop back to a more normal level.  Generally, a tolerance that is high, like you describe, is a sign of drinking too heavily.  You've drank so much there's no fun in it for you anymore, why do you want to continue?  It can't be healthy for you to drink that amount of vodka "pretty regularly."  Do yourself a favor and give it up.  [Warning: If you experience withdrawl symptoms such as shaking, then you will need to have a few drinks with vodka and go to a hospital to have an alcohol detox.  That sort of withdrawl can be directly fatal, the alcohol will make it go away, but you need a medical detox in that case.  Hopefully you don't, but just in case. ]