Date: January 1st, 2026 1:49 PM
Author: Azn | pussy | poaster
For Some Asian Americans, There’s No Such Thing As a Casual Drink
For many Asian Americans, a single cocktail can cause their faces to turn red. Known as the “Asian glow,” the condition can stir up mixed emotions.
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Two women clutching drinks with black straws sit on a red couch in a bar.
Alyssa Nguyen, left, with her friend Lourdes Santiago at Carousel, a bar in New York. “There’s a lot of emotional labor that goes into prepping to drink,” Ms. Nguyen said.Credit...Shuran Huang for The New York Times
Amy Qin
By Amy Qin
Amy Qin is a member of the “alcohol flushing tribe.”
Dec. 31, 2025
A holiday season that fills up the calendar with office parties, events, gatherings and festivities can wear away at even the most social of creatures. But, for some people, there is an added wild card: what has become known as the “Asian glow.”
That’s a euphemism for a condition that can be brought on by a single cocktail or glass of wine: a bright red face, the color often stretching from ear to ear. The Asian glow is a common condition for people of East Asian descent, almost half of whom carry an enzyme deficiency that can cause flushed countenances, elevated heartbeats and dizziness or headaches.
On TikTok and Reddit, some Asian Americans exchange tips on how to combat Asian glow through pills, patches, makeup or Pepcid AC — an antihistamine medication typically used for heartburn that has been adopted for off-label use by some Asian Americans to inhibit the “glow.”
In interviews with more than a dozen Asian Americans, many said they realized they got the glow only when they first tried alcohol in high school or college.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/style/asian-american-glow-alcohol.html
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5816064&forum_id=2]#49554249)