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People find alcohol sweeter in noisy environments, which might drown out our ability to judge how much we are drinking. Research conducted by Dr Lorenzo Stafford, a psychologist from the University of Portsmouth, was the first experimental study to find out how music can alter the taste of alcohol. The research built on earlier research which found that people drank more alcohol and faster if loud music was playing.

In Dr Stafford’s study, participants had to rate a selection of drinks varying in alcohol content on the basis of alcohol strength, sweetness, and bitterness. They were given one of four different levels of distraction, from no distraction to loud club-type music playing at the same time as reading a news report. The study found that drinks were rated significantly sweeter overall when participants were listening to music alone.