What Shape Should Alcohol Glasses Be?

Excessive Drinking is not good for you (Shocker!) Both for you and probably for most people around you. If you’re struggling with the bottle this recent study published in PLOS might be helpful for you. But who has the time and patience to read a whole research article? Luckily for you, I’m here to summarize the paper for you and translate the “nerd talk” into plain English.

Does the shape of the glass actually matter?

Wheater you own a bar and want to sell more or if your happy hours always end with a headache when you wake up the next morning and want to drink less, this is probably the question you’re asking. Well, A group of scientists did some research to answer our questions once more! the experiment was done on 159 people and showed that yes, the shape does make a difference in how much alcohol you consume.

What did the results show?

According to the study, “Participants were 60% slower to consume an alcoholic beverage from a straight glass compared to a curved glass.” However, they did mention that these effects were only observed when the glasses were full and not when they were only half full (or half empty if you’re a pessimist.) When drinking non-alcoholic beverages, the subjects did not have a bias to drink faster from either glass shape.

In the same study, the subjects were asked to mark the half point on both curved and straight glasses and people misjudged the halfway point on the curved glass to a greater degree. This was positively correlated with the increased drinking speed from curved glasses.

How was the experiment done?

The researchers did two different studies on this study, for the first one they randomized the amount, drink (lager vs. soft drink), and the shape of the glass among 159 “Social male and female alcohol consumers” (A.K.A college students.) They then used a fully computerized test to determine the perceived midpoint of each shape of the glass. To hide the purpose of the experiment the subjects were asked to rank soft and alcoholic drinks based on what branding they were. The research team didn’t do this because they’re evil (at least I don’t think they are), the reason behind this is to avoid any bias the subjects might have if they know what the experiment is.

The finding suggests that people use perceptual judgments to regulate their drinking rates. The research team also mentioned that marking the halfway point on the glass might lead to slower and thus less drinking. This research did not cover the underlying mechanism of this behavior but it laid the foundation for such studies.

Bottom line

If you want to drink slower and less, use straight glasses and mark the midpoint. If you are a bartender who knows drunk people tip more you should use curved glasses. If you are someone who works in the public health industry or such organizations, make sure to tell your boss about this. Studies like these tend to have a downstream effect. That being said, more research is needed to better understand this behavior.