Sherry and port will get you sloshed more quickly but cause the worst hangovers, doctor warns

It may seem a harmless tipple for grannies and great aunts, but a glass of sherry on Christmas Day could be followed by a terrible hangover.

In fact, sherry and port provide the ‘optimum way of getting very drunk very fast’, according to Dr Hal Sosabowski, professor of public understanding of science at Brighton University.

He blamed the fact that they contain a relatively high volume of alcohol and get into the bloodstream easily, unlike stronger spirits such as whisky that can overpower cells in the stomach wall, slowing entry into the bloodstream.

Dr Sosabowski added: ‘It is to do with the concentration. Beer, for example is about 5 per cent maximum. You have to drink quite a lot to get drunk. At the other end of the spectrum you’ve got whisky, which is about 40 per cent.

‘In the middle is sherry and port – the optimum way of getting drunk very fast… because it’s about 20 per cent and doesn’t inhibit its own uptake.’

Unfortunately, sparkling wine is also a no-no. He said: ‘Alcohol which is carbonated increases its uptake, so you can feel the first glass of champagne working on you in maybe 30 seconds.’

‘You feel like you’ve had a drink because the carbonation causes it to be taken up quicker.’

Many hardened seasonal drinkers may aim to have a glass of water between drinks in the hops of staying relatively sober and warding off a hangover.

However Dr Sosabowski said: ‘You need to be careful about that, because if you’re drinking strong drinks followed by water, what you’re doing is diluting it, to that terrible 20 per cent,’ he said.

‘And don’t have chasers. Don’t ever have a pint of lager and whisky chaser because you’re turning the four per cent lager into effectively 10 per cent, which is right up there.’

Vodka was recommended as the spirit of choice to feel slightly less rough, but the academic said the only way not to get drunk is not to drink.