How quickly your body absorbs alcohol depends on factors that include your weight and health, how much alcohol you consume and what type of beverages you’re drinking. Not all alcoholic drinks are the same; beer has an average alcohol concentration of around 3 to 8%, while sherry has a concentration as high as 30%, and some liquors reach up to 40% on average.
Plus, the other ingredients in your drink also play a role. Carbonated beverages, such as champagne or a whiskey mixed with soda, are absorbed faster.
But the rate at which alcohol leaves your body depends heavily on your liver. On average, a healthy liver processes 0.016% BAC per hour.
The time it takes to reach a 0% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) can be between one hour and a full day, depending on how high your blood alcohol content was to begin with. In the case of a full day, that means your BAC was so high you could be at risk of a coma or death from alcohol poisoning.
Typically, a blood alcohol content, or BAC, test is only accurate within six to 12 hours after someone has had their last drink when determining whether someone was legally intoxicated.
However, the biomarkers — or physical evidence — that you consumed alcohol can be present for days or even weeks and are detectable by other specialty tests.