Ever have a sip of prosecco and instantly feel a bit gigglier? There’s something about ordering a glass of bubbly that just makes you feel so fancy. And happy. And…a little drunk.

Okay, a lot drunk. And no, you’re not imagining that.

It turns out that prosecco actually gets you drunker quicker than other kinds of wine or alcohol!

Science seriously has proven this. It was actually proven this back in 2011 in a study by Dr. Fran Ridout and her team of researchers at the University of Surrey.

In the study, published in Science Correspondent, 12 people were given two glasses of champagne. Half the group got just normal, fizzy champagne that went straight from the bottle to the glass. The other half’s champagne was bubble-ridden, having been made flat with a whisk.

Also, each of the glasses were all individually adjusted to work for each person’s body weight, age, etc. so that the proportions were all fair.

What happened after the people drank their glasses is kind of crazy. Those who were drinking the normal, bubbly stuff had their alcohol levels rise quicker than those who drank the flat champagne.

And it wasn’t just a little bit different—after just five minutes, the fizzy drinkers averaged 0.54 milligrams of alcohol per milliliter of blood, and the flat drinkers averaged .039 milligrams of alcohol per milliliter. That’s a lot!

“Some could hardly write,” Dr. Ridout said. “It must be absorbed from the digestive system quicker.”

Additionally, those with the bubbles took 200 milliseconds longer to notice objects in their peripherals when they were sober, and those with the flat stuff were around 50 milliseconds.

To super triple clarify what was happening, the researchers tested the exact same thing a week later, except switched the groups and their corresponding bubbles vs. no bubbles, and the same thing happened!

A more recent 2007 study published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine conducted a similar study that proved the same thing as Rideout’s team.

The researchers tested three groups with varying levels of vodka: One group got a shot of vodka, one group got vodka with water, and one group got a vodka soda. Guess which group got drunk the fastests? Vodka soda!

It’s all about the bubbles

Are you starting to see a trend here? The theory is that the bubbles in fizzy alcoholic drinks, like prosecco, play a part in moving the alcohol rapidly through the stomach or intestine, and into the bloodstream.

“Scientists have shown that fizz of Champagne speeds up the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream, making drinkers more giggly,” the study proved, according to the Telegraph back in 2001. “The effect of bubbles is so powerful that just two glasses can send people dangerously close to the drink driving limit.”

Still want a glass of prosecco but need to drive later? Hint from the research: Use a shallow goblet to drink it out of instead of a champagne flute. “The large surface area allows the bubbles to dissipate quickly, whereas flutes preserve the fizz,” the study concluded.

Have you ever noticed that prosecco, or other bubbly drinks, hits you harder than other drinks? Did you think you were imagining it?