Why do Poles drink so much?

You haven't seen some of my neighbours in Poland. Their organisms recognized alcohol as a 'preserving substance'. They will probably live forever, and if they happen to die, their bodies won't decompose in graves

Take Milkthistle before you go out drinking...that helps me...

Im actually not drinking until I go to Poland, 3 weeks to go....I really hope its going to be snowing, Im sure Krakow will look even more amazing covered in snow...

One of the bigger mistakes I have made in my life was to introduce my Polish Friend to the game of Fizz Buzz. It’s a drinking game that, without boring you all with the all the details, involves counting in a circle. There are many rules but any number with a five or a multiple of five in it (5, 15, 51, 20 for example) is replaced with the word Fizz. Any number with a seven or multiple of seven in it is replaced with the word Buzz. Buzz also reverses the order that you go round the circle in. The other key rule is that you cannot drink unless you make a mistake and are given a penalty by the chairman or if the chairman declares general drinking to be in order. The basic outcome of the game is simple, the more mistakes you make the more you drink and therefore make more mistakes…….

Being an experienced player of the game I was looking forward to a fun evening watching some poor unfortunate suffer. All started well and many vodka penalties later there were a couple of worse for wear players. Being a star player I had managed only a few sips of the nominated drink and much fun was being had by all, including the group from the next table who had joined in. Then the bombshell – it was decided by the Chairman that counting was now to be in Polish. Within what seemed like minutes I had gone from sober to under the table. There was no way I could have drunk as much as the previous losers. . I’m still awaiting a replay match drinking Scrumpy (strong cider usually found from farms in the West of England).


From that day forth when asked to drink Vodka with new acquaintances my standard behaviour was to have a few and then feign drunkenness. This was always met with a sympathetic nodding of the head and ‘He is English – they can’t drink you know’. Worked a treat.

On a more serious note, I don't think that Poles drink any more than a lot of other nationalities. Obviously there must be a metabolic reason why Vodka has no effect though.

Amathyst, I dont want to worry you, but you need a miracle to see snow in Krakow this winter. Right now there is no snow at all, and what is more today was plus 14 C!!! usually at this time is minus 10!!! January and February are suppoused to be the coldest month during the year, and it was like this one year ago, when in January was even minus 23 C!!!! This year no chance for that.. thanks to global worming

Damn...I was in the Czech Rep. in late feb last year and the snow was about 7 inches...and blizzards...it was amazing...well we have snow forcast in the UK in the next week or so....not quite the same....I think everywhere is having a mild winter this year...well I'll be happy if it doesnt rain...got soaked to bone today and it was blowing a gale...

I don't know whether I spent more time reading these forums or reading snow forecasts for Chamonix today. This global warming lark is getting serious. Still never mind when the Gulf Stream stops and the UK is colder than NY in the winter I can ski in the garden.

right now is rainning.... really strange for polish winter

I don't classify myself as a wimp when it comes to drinking but I couldn't compete with my polish friends.mmmm only advice for a novice is to eat plenty of fatty food when your drinking.

Lots of bars in the US but they close at 2:00AM and check ID's and if a minor- under 21 - was served beer the bar owner pays a big fine. Many people drink at home. 90% of students in the University I went to, drink. If cought drunk driving - big, huge fines, revoked driver's license and points added to it.
I don't drink but most people around here waste their time and money in bars, getting their education there. My "X" called me anti-social because that's where he spends all his time and I don't.
I'd rather ride a horse.hahahahahahahaha
Or chat on the forum.

Feb 27, 07 [17:38] - Attached on merging:
why polish people drink a lot?

Just wonderin is it in our geens ? Patr of polish societ,kulture thing?Are we gonna be known as a nation that loves vodka?

How much have you had today??

kiki - the UK and IRE are in the same boat.

dont worry about it, control it

You star. Feigning pissedness.
Neat Vodka has a far less effect than when mixed

The skiing weather is disturbing me as well. We had a great week in Courchevel but it was spring conditions in the depths of winter.

I'm off the booze for a while, so here goes..............

Doing good aren't i ?

Have a Gunniess, That outta do the trick

i can tell u this much i know a few poles and they can drink but me and my american buddys get way more tossed than they do maybe its just in our attitudes u know? im a loud obnoxious drunk where as most europeans i know are pretty chill about it

well embarassingly ireland are the heaviest drinkers in the world but i am not at all surprised. Basically ireland culture is music and alcohol and anywere we go we are expected to live up to our reputation. However liver problems and death due to alcohol is much higher in poland and i would say that i due to your culture of drinking spirits 'neat' without any mixer. Also policing is like ireland used to e, inadequate and drink driving is still an accepted part of rural poland as in ireland. Heavy drinking is uually associated with working class, poverty and unemployment which confuses me as you would think those rich countries would be able to afford to drink more. Anyway i cant believe hy polish people would want to leave places like zakopane to come and work in a mcdonalds in **** accomodation living a unrealistic deam whilt tey watch their own country go further and further into a mess. What wiill happen when a ll your kids with all their degrees leave? germany or someone else will invade. Poland you like ireland fought so hard to get your country back and now you have it and moving in the right direction you want to abandon it. have some pride in your country and stop running away allan mcclean ireland

They drink to keep up with the rest of us

Well, mate, maybe you could go ahead and try to live in Poland for a while for a minimum wage there. Then you'd understand why Poles rush out of Poland.

And how do they??

Recently met up with my Polish lover after i finished work, he'd been drinking with his friend most of the evening, but was still relatively sober!! Two drinks and i was certainly getting merry. Perhaps I'm just a light weight.

Not all of us drink (so much) :P

He, last in Poland with now ex-boyfriend/man of the moment/blokewhatever he was, I outdrank him and all his friends. Ok, so I could barely walk but I still managed to make it to the bathroom in one piece, despite the annoying fact that I seemed to have no reflection when attempting to reapply my lippy.. a lost cause I fear ;0). On returning to the party, two of said hard Vodka swilling Poles had passed out on the floor!

.. not that I'm proud of this fact or anything, but just that us Brits can put a fair bit away. Mind you I am from the North East, I think we have specially designed livers ;0)

I drink to forget, all mistakes I do and others do for me

so maybe some stats, we prefere vodka than wine, but when we take all akohol (beer, vodka, wine) we dont drink as it is considered. so next stereotype ...

Concerning vodka, the vodka section in Carrefour Supermarket is huge! It stretches most of the aisle, from floor to the top shelf. Bottle upon bottle, brand upon brand. The aisle itself is no longer than it's American counterpart, but 75% is vodka, whereas in the U.S. there are many other liquors and liqoueres vying for your dollar.

In the U.S., I've seen stats that indicate >20% of the people consume < 80% of the booze. Perhaps in Poland, the percentages are more in line. This would indicate a lot more moderate drinkers. No proof to back it up, just a thought.

Statistics do not show Poland at the top.
I was suprised how far down the list Poland, the UK and even Ireland are.
Beer consumption (let's forget about wine and spirits for a second) is the highest. (No suprise there.)

But it is drinking habits that form the stereotypes.
In France, a huge amount of wine is consumed quite sensibly.
The UK, Ireland, Denmark, a few other places, are the home of the BINGE.

I have drunk in Poland with 19-21 year olds who drank quite sensibly - 4 or 5 bottles on a Saturday night sort of thing.
I've also seen some old boys sitting round the back of a shop drinking solidly from dawn to dusk.
I also drank some lovely 95%ish spirytus. The kind of stuff that should have a 'No Smoking' sign on the bottle!

Sorry to disappoint - but Poland is 12 th in the league of European drinkers........
The UK is 8th, and Portugal is 1st (EEC study 2002)

I do find that a lot of Polish people drink a lot! My exboyfriend and his friends were ALWAYS drinking. I never drink .... well until I met my ex polish guy. Then I started drinking. But when we broke up I stopped drinking again.

So the Poles like a drink, heck, who dosen't the whole worlds at it right?? :)