Uh-oh: Research says your cocktails could be stealing your orgasms.

Image: The Family Stone

A cocktail might be the thing that gets you ‘in the mood’, but apparently it could stop you getting over the line.

It’s well-known that men can struggle to maintain an erection after consuming strong portions of alcohol, but according to a new study, published in the Journal of Sex Research, alcohol also has an unhelpful sexual side effect for women — it impairs their ability to orgasm.

RELATED: “I burned the crap out of my vagina and ended up in hospital.”

Researchers examined how alcohol impacted on the sexual arousal of 18 female university students, who were kept at different blood alcohol levels as they watched pornographic material and masturbated with the aim of reaching climax.  (post continues after gallery)

The admittedly small study “showed a progressive and systematic depressant effect of alcohol on orgasmic responding” — in other words, the subjects who had more alcohol in their blood struggled to hit the sweet spot.

“Increasing levels of acute alcohol intoxication are related to systematic changes in female orgasmic experience reflected by physiological, behavioural, and cognitive indices,” the study authors note.

RELATED: 1 in 3 women are faking orgasms for this very sad reason.

Awesome. It’s not enough that alcohol impairs our balance, our judgement and our conversation skills — it has to go and steal our orgasms too.

This isn't the first piece of research to establish this connection. A previous study, published in the Journal of Addictive Diseases, reported a direct link between alcohol abuse and women’s sexual dysfunction.

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After studying the sexual behaviours of alcoholic and sober women, University of San Diego researchers concluded that for women who abuse alcohol, reducing their consumption could help them overcome issues with sexual dysfunction.

Disheartening as they are, there are some reasons behind these findings. (post continues after gallery)

"Vasocongestion, which is the swelling of the vaginal tissues that make the vagina receptive to penetration, decreases, as does lubrication," Breslaw explains.

RELATED: 20 reasons why you’ve gone off sex (and how to get your mojo back).

However, you don't have to swear off mojitos for life in the name of your sex life. The research team behind the Journal of Sex study advise that although a woman's orgasm will occur "more readily" when no alcohol has been consumed, a little tipple could go a long way.

"Modest intake of alcohol, however, may be expected to result in greater feelings of sexual arousal, a more enjoyable orgasmic experience, and only a moderate increase in the time it takes to reach orgasm," they write.

Phew.

Have you ever experienced "whiskey vagina"?