What you memorize while drunk can be easier to recall only when you're drunk again

In a 1969 study, people who memorized word lists while intoxicated recalled them better when tested intoxicated again than when tested sober — even though being drunk generally hurts memory. Psychologists call this state-dependent memory: retrieval improves when your internal physiological or mood state at test time matches the state you were in while learning.

— Donald W. Goodwin, Barbara Powell, Donald Bremer, Harriet Hoine, Jorg Stern, Alcohol and Recall: State-Dependent Effects in Man — Science, vol. 163, 1969

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