Previous chapter Next chapter To mislead people as to whether
they have or have not consumed alcohol, two conditions must be
met: Firstly, the taste must not disclose the alcohol content.
Alcohol's impact upon the taste of beverages is much less than
most people believe (chapter 8). Experiments have established
that the alcohol content is scarcely discernible in ordinary
drinks (6-8 % alcohol) and common beer (4-5 %).1 Hence, these
beverages have been used in several blind tests. Stronger
beverages have also been used. Research groups in New Jersey and
Montreal have used drinks with 13-15 % alcohol, and some others
have used 20-30% alcohol (!).2 ,3 This makes the conclusions
less reliable. Secondly, internal cues must not disclose the
presence of alcohol in the blood. The concentrations of blood
alcohol that human beings can detect, varies between individuals
and between situations. One blind test aimed at finding which
internal cues most reliably informs an individual of having
alcohol in the blood.4 The par