A notion that isn’t so surprising for anyone is that most people think that carbonated drinks such as soda tastes much better when they still have fizz in them as compared to being flat. So today, we’ll answer the question of why fizzy drinks are better than their flat versions.
Why carbonated sodas taste better
The reason behind the great taste is carbonic acid (H2Co3) that is developed by adding CO2 (carbon dioxide) to the drinks, which contains H20 (water). That carbonic acid has a tangible taste that your tongue can detect, which also accents the flavor of the drink.
As these drinks taste delicious when being drunk in their carbonated form, removing the flavor by the CO2 usually is going to have a bad impact on the taste. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it’s the worst flavor for any drink without carbonation. Many carbonated beverages like popular soda drinks are known to have a lot of sugar or artificial sweetener when the CO2 is removed; the sweet flavor tends to stand out, which makes the drink taste bad, and that is why most people don’t enjoy flat drinks.
There was also research in 2009, done on mice that have been genetically modified not to be able to taste (sweet, umami, salty, bitter and sour). It was found that those mice that could not taste sour did not react to carbonations, while the normal mice (not modified) did feel the flat drinks, and they didn’t like it. CO2 triggers our sour-tasting receptors; the researchers said that the main culprit for this could be a special enzyme that is found on the surface of sour-tasting cells, Car4 (carbonic anhydrase 4).
Conclusion
So, the main reason why carbonated soda tastes better than its flat counterpart, it is because these drinks have a carbonic acid (H2Co3), which is developed by adding carbon dioxide to the soda (CO2). This process makes it taste good as compared to flat drinks. So, this was the reason why people like carbonated soda more than flat soda.
Bonus facts:
The soda manufacturers add the same amount of CO2 in cans as bottles. But when it’s placed in a plastic bottle, the CO2 will be released more quickly as compared to cans. That is why people prefer to buy soda cans more than soda bottles because CO2 lasts longer in cans.
Do you know that the sales of carbonated soda have been rising over the past decade? According to market research firm Euromonitor International, we have seen an increase of 54 per cent from 2009-14. Sales of La Croix sparkling water (carbonated water in a can) have tripled since 2009, according to the Washington Post.
