Imagine a world where you can drink as much as you damn well feel like and feel absolutely fine the next day? Unfortunately, that’s not quite realistic. But our insider expert, Bacardi bartender Emilie, does believe she can help you avoid that moment where the sun wakes you up and basically burns your very being as if you were a vampire.
‘The general rule is to drink loads of water between drinks and not to mix,’ Emilie instructs us very sensibly. ‘Spirits and beer, beer and wine, wine and spirits, beer and wine and spirits, and wine and beer are all recipes for disaster.’ Got it? Basically keep it all the same or similar. ‘That said, if you do stick to gin but down the whole bottle in two hours, that’s not going to be pretty either!’ ‘Stick to long drinks that have a much higher ratio of mixer to spirit, whilst you might not like a glass full of ice, it dilutes the drinks and keeps it going for longer. Try a simple Cuba Libre or a Gin & Tonic rather than really alcoholic drinks like a short.'
In fact, Emilie tells us to think of a hangover like an unwanted pregnancy. Stick with us here: ‘Only prevention works against hangovers. Be sensible,’ she says. ‘Drink until you get tipsy and then slow down or stop. It’s about knowing your limits and knowing where to draw the line’
But really, there may in life come a point when seeing the line is difficult. So, you’ve woken up and your original Sunday plans of channeling your inner Ruby Tandoh to make a vat of pasta for your upcoming week of work and go for a run have somehow morphed into watching the omnibus of Keeping Up With The Kardashians buried under your duvet. So what now? ‘A good bath will help. You’ll sweat out the alcohol and if you mix that with drinking loads of water, you might just flush it all out of your system. And eat pancakes! The sugar will give you the energy to survive the day.’
Finally, Emilie’s piece de resistance is coconut water. ‘Always have a big carton of coconut water ready for you in the morning.’ After all, if you get to that point, you’re clearly good at downing drinks. Take that, hangover.
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Illustration by Assa Ariyoshi
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.