Curved glasses make people drink their pints faster: study
08 May 2015
People who think they were downing their drink too fast could try a straight edged glass to help them slow down according to research.
Researchers from Bristol University's Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group found that the shape of a glass could affect the rate of consumption of the drink – and that straight glasses caused people to drink more slowly than curved ones.
A group of 160 people were asked by lead researcher Dr Angela Attwood and PhD student David Troy to attend two sessions at local pubs. Some participants were given a lager in a curved glass and others beer in a straight-sided glass. Those who drank from straight glasses were 60 per cent slower to consume alcoholic beverages than those drinking from curved glasses.
In another experiment, one group of subjects were given beer in a curved glass with markings on the side, showing measurements of a quarter, half and three quarters and the other participants had similar curved glasses without markings.
The results showed that the markings slowed the speed at which people drank and the group with the marked glasses took an average of 10.3 minutes to finish their pints, as against the non-marked glass group which took 9.1 minutes.
Dr Attwood said, ''The speed at which beer is drunk can have a direct effect on the level of intoxication experienced. This can also increase how much is consumed in a single drinking session. While many people drink alcohol responsibly, it is not difficult to have 'one too many' and become intoxicated.
''Our research suggests that small changes such as glass shape and volume markings can help individuals make more accurate judgements of the volume they are drinking and hopefully drinkers will use this information to drink at a slower pace.''
According to Troy, ''It was a great opportunity to have three pubs willing to take part in the feasibility study. We now know it is feasible to conduct this type of research in real world situations and this will have implications for future research. However, only a limited number of pubs took part over a short time scale, so the results are preliminary and need to be treated with caution.''