Loud Music Makes Alcohol Taste Sweeter, Study Finds

Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

​Want to drink less booze? Cover your ears.

According to a new study, alcohol tastes sweeter when loud music is playing, and therefore, people are likely to drink more of it. 

The research, conducted by UK psychologist Lorenzo Stafford, builds on an earlier finding that drinkers consume more alcohol and at a faster rate when the music is cranked up. Eighty drinkers between ages 18 and 28 were given different levels of distraction and asked rate a selection of drinks on the basis of alcohol strength, sweetness and bitterness. Drinks were rated significantly sweeter when participants were listening to music alone.

Stafford writes that the findings have practical implications. "Although individuals might well expect to consume more alcohol in club type environments anyway, it is important they understand how environment can potentially influence over-consumption and act accordingly," he states. 

And now you can blame your hangover on AC/DC.