glass or bust!

Tasty mugshot

Last night I went to a party, had a little bit too much to drink and inevitably woke up a smidge hungoever. I have a fool-proof ritual everytime this happens: ibuprofen + a damn's worth of water + carbs. This time around though, water just wouldn't do and I craved something else: an ice-cold-make-your-eyes-water-fizzy coke... from a glass bottle. No, not a coke from a can nor a plastic bottle, it had to be its more elusive relative coke in a glass bottle. In my mind, fizzy drinks that come from a glass container always taste better. The best example I can think of besides coke, is beer. Since my brain couldn't concentrate on anything work related, I turned to trusty Google for an answer to my brainfart: does soda taste different from a bottle than a can?

"I'm not crying, there's just soda bubbles in my eyes"

Apparently it does! It all comes down to how long it's been sitting around in its container. The Coca Cola Company would set my pants on fire and call me a liar, but I still think otherwise. The reason is quite simple: all soda going into a container has the same amount of bubbles, but winds up "tasting" differently because the fizz leaks out easier from plastic and aluminium than from glass. And another thing which had never occurred to me, but my geek mind found fascinating, is that you can't "taste" the fizz. Your tongue feels the carbonation, the same way it feels pain when you bite it. This is why you still feel the fizz tingling on your tongue even after you swallow it. So go ahead and raise your glass not your can! Your taste buds will throw a party. 

A nerdier more scientific explanation of the taste-dilemma can be found here.

If you agree to disagree with my superaccurate googling skills and still think cans rule the soda universe, read this.