7 Best Alcohols For No Hangover: Full Guide (2023)

Last Updated on March 14, 2023 by Lydia Martin

You’re kidding if you’ll say you haven’t experienced a hangover before unless you’re not a drinker.

We all like how alcoholic drinks spice up every moment–from ordinary days to special occasions. 

However, drinking alcohol may produce hangover symptoms the next day, and it feels sickening having a nasty hangover from consuming the worst alcoholic drinks. 

Good news– we’re here to give you some of the best alcohols for no hangover. If you want to avoid hangovers the following day, keep reading.    

Top 7 Alcohols For No Hangover 

7. Light Rum

Looking for an alcoholic beverage that can give you the least hangover? Try light rums. Light rum has an alcohol content of 40% ABV, the same as other drinks. 

But light rums have a sweeter and milder flavor, lighter in the body than any other rums.   

6. Gin

According to experts, if you want to avoid hangover symptoms or reduce hangover symptoms, opt for white spirits, and one best example is gin. 

This type of alcohol can be hangover-free as there are no added sugar or artificial additives which play a role in causing a bad hangover. 

The lack of dehydration-causing components and sugar makes this a non-hangover alcohol. 

5. Whiskey 

Whiskeys are another type of alcohol that can give little to no hangovers. 

Some of the best whiskeys that won’t produce hangover symptoms include: 

• Ritual Zero-Proof 
• Spiritless Kentucky 74
• Whyte & Mackay Light
• Auchentoshan 12-Year Old
• Jameson 

These spirits have lower alcohol content compared to other whiskeys or bourbon. But remember – consuming too much alcohol can still cause symptoms.   

4. Vodka 

Vodka can be one of the best non-hangover alcohol as it contains fewer congeners, or in most cases, no congeners at all, especially vodka light.  

Knowledge Tip: Congeners are substances (aside from ethanol alcohol) produced during the fermentation process of a spirit. These chemicals are known to give alcohols their distinctive characteristics. The common congeners in alcohol include methanol, aldehydes, and acetone, and these chemicals can cause hangover symptoms. A high level of congeners may lead to hangover severity.  

But we don’t recommend drinking cheap vodka, as low-quality vodka may contain additives that may cause hangovers, like sugar or artificial flavorings. 

Avoiding hangovers? Here are the best vodka brands we recommend: 

• Absolut Vodka 
• Switch Vodka Light
• Titoʼs Handmade Vodka
• Grey Goose Vodka 
• Belvedere Vodka 

3. Tequila 

Aside from vodka light, tequila does have fewer congeners.

But, this applies to pure tequila only, as any alcohol mixed with water or additives can cause hangovers due to the high congeners present. 

Pure tequila has no sugar, resulting in fewer hangover symptoms, like vodka light. But how much alcohol you consume still dictates the effect you’ll feel afterward. 

Drinking alcohol should always have limitations. If you’re looking for the best drinking tequila with no hangovers, try these bottles:

• Don Julio
• Espolòn Blanco Tequila
• Don Abraham Organic Blanco Tequila
• Casamigos Blanco
• Cuervo’s Tradicional Silver

2. Light Beer

Like vodka light, light beer is a good alcohol for no hangover. This alcohol drink is lighter in the body and has fewer congeners, too. 

At around 4.2% ABV, light beers have very low alcohol content. But there are beers with a high concentration of alcohol as well, but they are rare. 

“24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence?”

– Stephen Wright, American Comedian 

Drinking regular beers at night won’t cause hangovers the next morning unless you consume packs or cases of this drink.  

1. White Wine 

Probably the best drink with no hangovers is wine, particularly white wine. As mentioned, go for white spirits if you don’t want to experience hangover symptoms—white wine is the best solution. 

Natural wines, be they red or white wine, contains low alcohol, so the chances of severe hangovers the next morning are very low. 

While reds are the most popular, we suggest choosing white wine to avoid hangovers. 

Red wines tend to have more congeners than whites, but it’s not as heavy as alcoholic drinks, like brandies and regular rums. 

Our favorite wines are: 

• Pinard et Filles ‘Queer’
• Braida Brachetto d’Acqui
• NV Broadbent Vinho Verde
• Domaine Renardat-Fache Bugey Cerdon
• Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Kabinett Abtsberg 2018

What Alcohols Are Most Likely To Give You A Hangover? 

Champagne

The addition of yeast during the Champagne’s fermentation process increases alcohol and sugars, leading to more pain the following morning.

Bourbon

Scientists have discovered why some people get bad hangovers after drinking bourbon. 

The dark color of this drink is caused by the high levels of congeners [1] extracted from wood casks or barrels during the aging process. 

Red Wine

As mentioned above, you may want to avoid red wines as they’re high in congeners and tannins, known to produce a terrible hangover. 

Besides, high levels of histamines can cause reds to trigger a certain type of hangover. Some drinkers have allergic reactions to histamines, which can worsen the effects of this drink.

Do Darker Alcohols Give More Severe Hangovers?

Dark liquors, like brandy [2] and bourbon, tend to have more congeners than light-colored ones, like vodka light. 

And the levels of congers in a drink usually dictate the severity of the hangover; high levels mean high chances, and low levels mean low chances of hangovers.   

FAQs 

What is the best drink to prevent a hangover? 

The best drink to prevent a hangover is vodka. Vodka is pure and almost tasteless, proving it doesn’t contain additives that can trigger hangover symptoms. 

Is there an alcoholic drink for no hangover? –

Yes. There are alcoholic beverages for no hangover, including the Pimm’s Cup, Espresso Martini, Bloody Maria, Michelada, and more. 

Final Words 

Although some drinks leave no symptoms of a hangover, it doesn’t change the fact that we should only drink what our body can handle to prevent the unpleasant feeling after. 

While some liquors can give little to no hangovers, the truth is too much intake can still make you feel wasted after. 

In short, it all boils down to how much spirit you consume and how your body reacts to alcohol.

If you have an upcoming night out with friends, we suggest sticking to vodka, white wines, tequila, or light beers, if you want to retain your sanity the next day. 

References:

1. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/what-to-know-congeners-alcohol 
2. https://www.britannica.com/topic/brandy