How Many Shots It Takes to Get Drunk (& How to Drink Responsibly)

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Plus, how different alcohols affect intoxication

Co-authored by Tiffany Douglass, MA and Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: May 31, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Shots to Get Drunk
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• Intoxication Factors
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• Time It Takes to Feel Drunk
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• Types of Alcohol & Intoxication
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• Levels of Intoxication
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• Drinking Risks
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• Drinking Responsibly
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• FAQs
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• Conclusion
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• Warnings

|Show more |Show less

Generally, it takes anywhere from 3-5 shots to get drunk, but that number depends on a variety of factors, including weight, gender, and metabolism. In this article, we'll dive deeper into how much alcohol it takes to get drunk, the factors that influence intoxication, and how long it takes to feel drunk. We also interviewed addiction counselor Tiffany Douglass, MA and clinical psychologist Lauren Urban, LCSW to help you learn how to drink responsibly and stay safe.

Number of Shots It Takes to Get Drunk

Typically, it takes 3-5 shots of 40% ABV alcohol (including vodka, rum, gin, tequila, whiskey, and bourbon) to get drunk. This depends on various factors, like your weight, gender, and metabolic speed, as all bodies process alcohol differently. It usually takes women less alcohol to get drunk than men.

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Section 1 of 9:

How Many Shots It Takes to Get Drunk

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1. 
   It generally takes 3-5 shots of a 40% ABV drink to get drunk. Although it depends on several factors, like age, weight, and how much food you’ve got on your stomach, it usually takes the average person 3-5 shots of vodka, rum, gin, or whiskey (which are all around 40% ABV depending on the type) to get drunk. Your gender and weight strongly influence the number of shots it takes you to get drunk, as different bodies process alcohol in different ways. For example:

   • Male (170 lbs/77 kg): 3-4 shots in 2 hours will raise your blood alcohol content (BAC) to 0.06%-0.09%, putting you just around that drunk level.
   • Female (140 lbs/64 kg): 2-3 shots in 2 hours will raise your BAC to 0.05%-0.1%, with 3 shots putting you well within the drunk range.
   • Male (200 lbs/91 kg): 4-5 shots in 2 hours will raise your BAC to 0.07%-0.1%, getting you nice and drunk.
   • Female (170 lbs/77 kg): 3-4 shots in 2 hours will raise your BAC to 0.06%-0.09%, getting you through the tipsy phase and into the drunk phase.
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Section 2 of 9:

Factors That Affect Intoxication

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   Weight & Size The bigger you are, the more the alcohol has to travel throughout your body, and vice versa. This means that it takes more alcohol to get you drunk if you’re taller or weigh more, and less if you’re shorter or weigh less, as alcohol dilutes differently based on how much it has to distribute throughout your body.
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   Gender Gender also plays a role in how drunk alcohol gets you, as the male and female bodies tend to handle alcohol in different ways. When drinking the same amount of alcohol, women tend to get drunker than men. This is due to a variety of factors, including natural metabolic differences, men’s tendency to have a greater ratio of muscle to fat than women, and women having less water in their bodies than men.

   • Women’s bodies are composed of 45% to 50% water, while men’s bodies are composed of 55% to 65% water.
   • Women produce less of the enzyme required to break down alcohol than men do, which means their BAC tends to be higher than men’s when they drink.
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   Age Most people can’t drink at 30 like they can at 21. This is because as you age, your metabolism slows down, along with your ability to distribute alcohol and eliminate it from your system. So, the older you get, the longer it takes your body to process alcohol, making it easier to get drunk quicker than when you were younger.
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   Metabolism Not everyone’s metabolism is the same, and it actually varies greatly from person to person. Your age, genetics, and liver health can all influence your metabolism, which affects the rate at which alcohol is broken down and expelled from the body.
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   Alcohol Type Different types of alcohol have different alcoholic content, so you can get more or less drunk depending on what you’re drinking. For example, 3 beers won’t get you as drunk as 3 shots of vodka, as beer tends to have a much lower alcohol content than vodka. 3 glasses of wine will put you somewhere in the middle of those two.

   • A standard 5 oz glass of wine typically has an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 12% compared to a 12 oz can of beer’s 5%. A shot typically sits at 40%.
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   Rate of Consumption Your body is typically only able to process one drink an hour, so drinking more than that will get you more drunk. This means if you have 3 drinks, it may take your body 3 hours to return to normal.

   • It’s important to pace yourself when you’re drinking. If you drink too much too quickly, you risk blacking out or getting alcohol poisoning.
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   Whether or Not You’ve Eaten Drinking on an empty stomach is way different than drinking on a full stomach. When you drink on an empty stomach, there’s no cushion for the alcohol, and it goes straight to your bloodstream, which gets you drunk faster. When you’re drinking on a full belly, though, it takes your body longer to absorb the alcohol into your bloodstream, easing you into that drunken state.
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   Hydration Alcohol dehydrates you, which can make you feel drunker faster, as it’s quickly absorbed into your bloodstream. If you stay hydrated as you drink, it can dilute the alcohol and slow the absorption down. Not only does this assist in pacing, but it may also reduce the effects of a hangover.

   • The general rule of thumb is one cup of water per alcoholic beverage.
   • To tell if you’ve drunk enough water, look at your pee. According to Registered Dietitians group BC Dietitians, “If you’re not having enough hydration, your pee will be yellow. If you have enough, your pee will be pale-yellow to clear.”
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   Tolerance The more you drink, the more you build a tolerance to alcohol. This means it’ll take you more alcohol to reach the level of drunkenness you’re shooting for. Having a tolerance to alcohol is a key marker of alcohol use disorder, so you may want to reach out to a professional for help if you find that you’ve built a strong tolerance to alcohol.
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    Mood & Environment Your mood and the environment you’re in can influence how you feel when you’re intoxicated. If you’re somewhere that excites you or stresses you out, you may feel the alcohol hit faster or harder.

    • Intoxication can also affect your mood. For example, alcohol can keep feelings of depression and anxiety at bay while you’re drunk, but they can return in full force once you’re sober.
    • As you build a tolerance, your mood becomes less and less impacted by alcohol, and more impacted by the lack thereof. So, make sure you drink responsibly. Avoid using alcohol to enhance your mood.
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Section 3 of 9:

How Long It Takes to Feel Drunk

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1. 
   It depends on your body and how fast you’re drinking. Your body can only process one drink an hour, so how long it takes you to get drunk depends on how much alcohol you're drinking and how quickly. For example, if you take 3 shots in an hour, you’ll start to feel drunk after about 15-20 minutes. However, this all depends on various factors, like your weight, gender, and metabolic rate, so some people may feel drunk faster than others.

   • If you have a friend who’s taller than you and weighs more, you may get drunk faster than they do since the alcohol takes longer to travel throughout their body.
   • If you have a friend who’s shorter and skinnier than you, they may get drunk faster than you.
   • It’ll take about 60 minutes to feel all of the shots, since you can only process so much alcohol at a time.
   • If you babysit, say, 5 beers over 2 hours, you’ll probably feel the effects after an hour or so.

Section 4 of 9:

How Different Types of Alcohol Affect Intoxication

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   Beer Regular beer tends to have an ABV of 5%, while light beers have 4.2% and craft beers have 10%. Compared to other drinks, like wine and spirits, you’ll generally need more beer to feel intoxicated. Beer may also make your stomach hurt more than other drinks due to the carbonation and gluten.
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   Wine A 5-oz glass of wine typically has an ABV of 12%, so a few glasses can make you start feeling different. It’ll usually take you less wine to get drunk than beer, but not nearly as little as it takes when you’re drinking spirits. If you’re looking for a cool, smooth buzz, a glass of wine will do just the trick.
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   Spirits Spirits tend to cause you to get drunk the fastest out of the big three (beer, wine, and spirits). This is because they contains a whopping 40% ABV per 1.5 oz. So, when you’re at a pregame or the bar and you’re looking for a quick, easy way to get drunk, get a shot of a spirit. Be careful, though, as your body can only handle so much alcohol at a time.

   • Spirits, also known as hard liquor, include tequila, rum, gin, vodka, whiskey, and bourbon.
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   Mixed Drinks Mixed drinks speed up alcohol consumption, making you drunk faster. If you’re using a carbonated drink like Coca-Cola, tonic, a wine cooler, or champagne, the carbonation will cause the alcohol to be absorbed into your bloodstream faster. As a result, you may find yourself drunker a lot faster after a mixed drink as opposed to drinking the same amount of alcohol straight.

   • Be careful mixing energy drinks with alcohol, as it can cause your heart to work harder under more stress, potentially leading to heart failure.
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Section 5 of 9:

Different Levels of Intoxication

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   Buzzed This is the first stage of intoxication. During this stage, your BAC is typically between 0.01% and 0.05%. You may not seem like you’ve been drinking, but you’ll still be a bit slower to react, your behavior and judgment will be altered, and you’ll start to feel a little looser. Depending on your weight, you may enter this stage after just one drink.
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   Tipsy This is the second stage of intoxication. Like when you’re buzzed, you may not seem drunk on the surface (just a bit more relaxed and confident), but your memory and ability to reason may be slightly impaired. At this stage, your BAC is typically between 0.03% and 0.12%.
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   Drunk This is the third stage of intoxication, and by far the most popular. With a BAC that’s 0.08% to 0.18%, you’re legally drunk at this stage. Here, you may experience difficulties with walking and coordination and make decisions that you wouldn’t necessarily make if you were sober. You'll also likely have a higher pain threshold, which can result in injuries that you don’t register until the next morning.
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   Wasted At the fourth stage of intoxication, things start to get dangerous. With a BAC of 0.18% to 0.25%, your coordination is significantly impacted due to the alcohol’s effect on your cerebellum. You also run into the risk of blacking out, which is when your brain stops recording memories. Here, you may experience confusion, or you may walk and talk like normal with no recollection of it the next morning.

   • At a BAC of 0.25% or more, you risk getting alcohol poisoning. At 0.35%, you’re at risk of going into a coma. Please drink responsibly.
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Section 6 of 9:

Risks of Drinking Too Much

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   Alcohol poisoning When you drink way over the limit in a short time, the excess alcohol in your bloodstream can shut down the areas of your brain that are essential for life, like those responsible for breathing, heart rate, and body temperature. Alcohol poisoning is life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention, so don’t wait to go to the hospital if you suspect someone is suffering from it.
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   Internal injuries or diseases Drinking too much alcohol over a period of time can lead to internal injuries and diseases, including liver or kidney damage, mouth cancer, throat cancer, and breast cancer, stroke, heart disease, liver disease, brain damage, or damage to your nervous system.

   • This is if you have more than 14 units (10 mL/8 g of pure alcohol) or more in a week.
   • These injuries and diseases can develop after 10-20 years of regularly drinking more than 14 units a week.
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   Blackouts Blacking out is when you drink so much alcohol that your brain stops taking record of your memories. When you have a BAC between 0.18% and 0.3%, the alcohol can cause your hippocampus, which is responsible for making new memories, to stop working as well as normal. When you black out, you may seem just fine, walking and talking like normal, but you’re temporarily unconscious.
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   Physical injury When you drink, your decision-making skills and coordination are impaired, which is a great concoction for physical injury. For example, you may see a set of stairs and feel like you can jump over them, stick the landing, and walk away completely fine. But unless you’re a trained gymnast with superb coordination skills, you’ll likely end up falling and hurting yourself.
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   Memory loss Have you ever had a long, exciting night out, only to wake up and remember none of it? Well, there's a reason for that. As you drink, your hippocampus (the region of your brain responsible for making and storing memories) can begin to perform poorly. As a result, you can experience memory lapses and wake up not remembering what seemed to be a great night.
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   Legal trouble When you drink too much, it can impair your decision-making skills. This may cause you to do things that you wouldn’t do sober, like start a fight with someone, vandalize a business or property, or get behind the wheel while intoxicated, all of which can lead to run-ins with the law and cause you to be jailed or imprisoned.
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   Social ostracization You’re more likely to misjudge risky situations and lose self-control when you drink, which can cause you to do things that are considered socially unacceptable. These things may include kissing someone who isn’t your partner, saying something rude or offensive, or disrespecting someone who didn’t do anything to you.

   • Any of these things can cause you to wake up the next morning with your friends upset, angry, or through with you.
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Section 7 of 9:

How to Drink Responsibly

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   Make sure you’ve had enough to eat and drink. Part of drinking responsibly is making sure you have enough food and water in your system for the alcohol to sit properly. If you know you’re going to be drinking, make sure you’ve had breakfast, lunch, and dinner before you start; that way, the alcohol doesn’t get you more drunk than you expected. Drink lots of water, too, as alcohol will dehydrate you.
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   Drink in moderation. When you drink, pace yourself so you don’t end up getting too drunk too quickly. Avoid excessive drinking and give your body time to process the alcohol you’re consuming. It takes about an hour for your body to fully process a drink, so try to limit how many shots or glasses you’ll have within the hour.
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   Have a designated driver. If you plan on drinking anywhere that isn’t your home, designate someone to stay sober so they can drive you home. If you can’t find anyone to drive you, use a rideshare app like Lyft or Uber, call a taxi, or hop on public transportation if it’s available to ensure that you get home safe, as driving under the influence is illegal and extremely dangerous for you and others on the road.
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   Avoid peer pressure. Don’t feel like you’re obligated to drink or keep up with your friends just because they’re urging you to. Even if you’re trying to have a good night, don’t drink more than you’re comfortable with. No matter what your friends are doing, part of drinking responsibly is knowing when to say no. If they try to pressure you to drink, firmly decline.
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   Reach out to a professional if you need serious help. If you constantly feel the need to drink or are having a hard time putting the bottle down, reach out to a therapist, enroll in an addiction program like Alcoholics Anonymous, or check yourself into rehab. Professionals can help you develop plans for putting the bottle down, avoiding alcohol in the future, and becoming sober in the long term. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, so don’t be afraid to reach out if you’re struggling.

   • Urban says that if you’re struggling with alcoholism, be very honest and open with yourself about the situation you’re in and recognize that your needs may change as you recover.
   • According to Douglass, quitting and recovering are a family process. The people you’re around all the time, like your family and loved ones, have to be involved in the process, too. No one thrives without support.
   • Douglass suggests reaching out to a local therapist for a session to gauge the level of care you need. If you determine that your needed level of care is more severe, you may need more serious treatment, like an outpatient or inpatient program.
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Section 8 of 9:

Frequently Asked Questions

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1. 1
   Does drinking water help prevent you from getting drunk? A glass of water won’t prevent you from getting drunk, but it will help you stay hydrated, which can slow down the effects of the alcohol.
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   Can you sober up quickly? There isn’t a quick fix for sobering up. Although there are myths, like cold showers sobering you up, the only way to lower your BAC is to let your body naturally process the alcohol. Throwing up won’t help sober you up, either, but it will reduce the amount of alcohol in your stomach.
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   Does the alcohol content depend on the type of shot? Yes, it does. Although spirits typically have an ABV of 40%, they can range from 30% to 50% or more depending on the quality of the drink you’re buying. For example, cask-strength whiskey tends to have an ABV of 50 to 60%, and Rasputin Vodka has an ABV of up to 70%, depending on the proof you buy.
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   How can I check my blood alcohol content without a calculator? The general rule is that one drink an hour will increase your BAC by 0.02%, so take the number of drinks you’ve had per hour and multiply them by 0.02% to check your blood alcohol content without a calculator. For example:

   • 1 drink per hour = 0.02% BAC
   • 2 drinks within an hour = 0.04% BAC
   • 4 drinks within an hour = 0.08% BAC
   • 6 drinks within an hour = 0.12% BAC
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   Why does alcohol get you drunk? Alcohol gets you drunk because it makes its way through the blood-brain barrier after dissolving in the fat and water of your body. Once it enters the brain, it binds to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors, slowing down the brain and causing you to feel the effects of being drunk, including slowed speech and reaction time, reduced motor coordination skills, and lowered inhibitions.
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   How many shots are there in a fifth of alcohol? A standard bottle of alcohol, which is typically referred to as a fifth, contains 750 mL of alcohol, which is equivalent to about 16 shots.
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Section 9 of 9:

Final Takeaways

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1. It typically takes 3-5 shots to get drunk, depending on several factors. If you’re having 3-5 shots of 40% ABV alcohol, it’ll get you drunk. The level of drunk you get depends on your weight, size, gender, and various other factors. If you’re drinking something else, like wine or beer, then it’ll take you longer to get drunk, but this also depends on the type of beer and wine you’re drinking, as some are stronger than others.

   • When you’re drinking, it’s important to make sure you have enough food on your stomach and that you’re staying hydrated. The general rule of thumb is one glass of water per alcoholic beverage.
   • Always have a designated driver when you’re drinking. Never get behind the wheel when you’re intoxicated
   • Drinking too much alcohol can result in internal damage and alcohol poisoning, which can be fatal.
   • It’s important to pace yourself while you drink. Try to avoid going overboard and set limits on how many drinks you’ll have per hour.

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Warnings

• Drinking too much alcohol can be deadly, as it can lead to alcohol poisoning and comas.
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• Alcohol poisoning signs include vomiting, seizures, confusion or disorientation, slow or irregular breathing, and low body temperature.
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