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Blood Alcohol Content is the percentage of your blood fluid that is alcohol.
There are two key factors: the amount of blood you have (usually proportional to your mass) and the amount of alcohol you've taken in that hasn't been excreted. (Approximately the equivalent of one cocktail/beer/glass of wine is removed from the bloodstream by the kidneys in one hour.)
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LaoBAC (Blood Alchohol Concentration) depends on the volume of your blood and surrounding permeable fluid spaces such as your lymph system in comparision with the amount of alcohol in your blood stream.
A general rule of thumb is that one drink, be it one shot of 80 proof, one 12 oz beer, or one glass of wine, is about 0.02 to 0.03, but that depends on blood volume which depends on body mass.
A better rule of thumb, called "The Rule of Eights", is to take the fluid ounces of pure alcohol, multiply that by 8, and divide by weight in pounds. For example, that one shot of 80 proof for a 150 pound man would be 1.5 * 0.4 * 8 / 150 = 0.032. A 250 pound man would be at 0.019. From that, for a healthy liver, you subtract 0.02 per hour since the onset of drinking. For a woman, use 10 instead of 8 to account for the different fluid/fat ratios present. You can also use 10 or even 12 for a man (or woman) if he (or she) is obese.
As you can see, it does not take very much so, be safe - don't drink and drive.
BAC is increased by gulping alcohol, by drinking on an empty stomach, and by consuming effervescent Alcoholic Beverages. However, one's goal should be to drink in moderation and prevent a high BAC.
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