The Scientific Reason Soda Tastes So Much Better Out Of A Glass Bottle
Whether you prefer spicy ginger ale, crisp Sprite, or nostalgic cherry Coke, a cold, refreshing soda always hits the spot. The average soft drink comes in a metal can or a colorful plastic bottle, which does the job just fine. But there's something about cracking open a chilled glass bottle of pop that simply tastes better.
Soda from a glass bottle is often considered crisper, more refreshing, and more flavorful. You might have attributed the difference to the novelty of drinking out of glass; glass bottles have become rarer sights nowadays, as companies shift towards plastic and aluminum packaging. Glass is more fragile and liable to break in transport — but the drinks inside just taste so good.
Is there more to this phenomenon than a matter of perception? Apparently so. Science shows that the material used to package soda may interact with it chemically, minorly altering its flavor and texture.
Glass bottles seal in flavor and fizz
Those coveted glass bottles are good for more than just aesthetics and nostalgia; they also prevent flavor from leaching into or out of beverages. Part of it has to do with polymers, as food chemist Sara Risch, Ph.D., explained to Popular Science in 2009.
Polymers are strings of chemicals that make up the molecules in packaging materials. These molecules can impact the beverages sealed inside, subtly changing their flavor. Polymers in aluminum cans can absorb soluble flavor from soda, impacting the overall taste. On the other hand, plastic bottles contain acetaldehyde, which can seep into the soda and impact taste in a different way. Glass is more inert than aluminum or plastic, meaning that the polymers inside won't affect the soda as strongly. This results in a slightly purer flavor.
Another benefit of glass over plastic? It seals in CO2 better. Carbon dioxide produces a soda's fizzy, crisp texture. Plastic and aluminum are more CO2-permeable materials than glass, which keeps the effervescence stronger for longer.
Coca-Cola spokespeople speak up
Despite the science behind glass bottles' (slight) superiority, Coca-Cola insists that its beverage tastes the exact same, no matter what you drink it out of: glass, plastic, or aluminum.
"The great taste of Coca-Cola is the same regardless of the package it comes in," a Coca-Cola spokesperson told Popular Science in 2009. The recipe for Coke is always the same, no matter what container it's shipped in. Theoretically, nothing should change, whether you're serving from a two-liter or sipping out of a tiny 7.5-ounce can.
However, the company concedes that consumer perception may affect the taste of the drink from an individual standpoint. The container's shape and material, the temperature, whether or not it's served with ice — these variables may impact the perceived flavor of Coke (or any other soda product). Regardless, drinking soda out of glass bottles isn't just more delicious; it's more fun, too.