How to drink Coke to make it taste better? Maybe you have been drinking Coke for so many years in vain

How to drink Coke best?

Drink it iced, of course.

If you are interested and look carefully at the packaging of Coke, you will find that the merchant has also specially marked the suitable drinking temperature: 3℃.

So the idea that Coke tastes better when it’s cold is not just a psychological suggestion, it’s actually true.

Dad's real test pictures

If you ask why Coke tastes better when it’s cold, it’s not just as simple as “liking the coolness”.

There are two reasons.

1. It is more refreshing to drink it cold. The reason why carbonated drinks are so popular is the unique taste of carbon dioxide exploding in the mouth.

I don’t know if you have ever noticed that the taste of room temperature cola is generally more "fluffy". When you take a big sip, you can only drink a mouthful of foam.

In comparison, the foam in ice cola is much more refreshing and tastes much better.

This is because the solubility of carbon dioxide changes with temperature; the lower the temperature, the greater the solubility.

The stronger the solubility, the less likely it is to leak gas, and the more gassy the drink will taste.

Solubility of Carbon Dioxide at Different Pressures

In other words: the colder the Coke is, the more carbonated it is and the more refreshing it will taste.

2. It is sweeter when drunk cold. Let’s take a well-known cola as an example. Its sweetness comes from F55 fructose syrup and white sugar.

Dad's real test pictures

Among them, the content of F55 fructose syrup is higher, accounting for about 85%; the content of white sugar is lower, accounting for about 15%.

The main components of F55 fructose syrup are 55% fructose and 45% glucose.

To put it in context, the sweetener composition of cola is roughly as follows:

Because fructose accounts for the highest proportion, the sweetness of cola is very close to fructose.

Fructose has a magical "cold sweet" property: the lower the temperature, the sweeter it is.

When the temperature drops to a certain level, the sweetness can even reach 1.73 times that of sucrose.

This is because fructose has two molecular configurations: α and β.

The sweetness of α-type is three times that of β-type. At low temperatures, β-type fructose will turn into α-type, increasing the sweetness.

Therefore, although the sugar content of iced cola has not changed, it will taste sweeter.

It can easily double the "happiness of a fat house".

Image source: Internet

Similarly, watermelon, which everyone loves, tastes better after being chilled.

At this point, some smart friends will ask:

They both taste better when chilled, so why is Yakult less sweet when chilled?

This is because the composition of sweeteners varies.

The sweetness of Yakult mainly comes from white sugar (sucrose).

Dad's real test pictures

Unlike high fructose corn syrup, the sweetness of white sugar will decrease slightly as the temperature decreases.

This results in Yakult at room temperature tasting too sweet, while Yakult after being refrigerated is just the right sweetness.

3. How much colder is the cola that tastes best? It is true that a little colder cola tastes better, but how much colder is the cola that tastes better?

In food research and development, there is a professional concept - Bliss point.

As the sweetness of cola increases, consumers will like it more and more.

When the sweetness reaches a certain level, consumers' preference for cola will reach its highest point. This sweetness is the sensory optimal point of cola, also known as the "bliss point".

However, when the sweetness of cola reaches its bliss point, even if the sweetness increases further, it will be difficult to attract consumers' favor and may even cause disgust.

Based on Coca-Cola's official recommendations, it is not difficult to guess that 3°C ​​should be the sweetness point of Coke.

In other words, the closer the Coke is to 3°C, the better it tastes.

To make the temperature of Coke closer to 3°C, you can try adding some ice cubes to the refrigerated Coke.

Let's do a little test and measure the temperature of iced cola and refrigerated cola.

During the test, I found that there was not enough ice cubes, so I only put 2 ice cubes in this cup of Coke. If more ice was used, the temperature of the Coke would be lower.

The results show:

The temperature of ordinary refrigerated cola is 8.9℃
The temperature of cola with ice cubes is 4.2℃

Dad's real test pictures

In other words, the temperature of "Coke with ice" is closer to 3°C than that of "Cold Coke", and it tastes better.

If you like your cola to be even colder, you can even add lots of ice cubes like in fast food restaurants.

We have tested it for you. As long as you put plenty of ice and the temperature is below 2℃, it's completely OK.

Dad's real test pictures

4. Which type of cola packaging is better? If conditions permit, we suggest that you try to change the cola to cola in glass bottles, which will taste better.

The ranking of the taste of cola based on the carbonation content is roughly as follows:

This has something to do with the packaging material of Coke.

The glass material is relatively stable, which results in less carbon dioxide leakage during transportation and more "gas" overall.

Cans are usually made of aluminum, which is less impermeable to carbon dioxide than glass, but stronger than PET, and can block the leakage of carbon dioxide to a certain extent.

As for plastic bottles, they are usually made of PET, which has the highest carbon dioxide permeability among the three materials.

The higher carbon dioxide permeability causes bubbles to leak out of the bottle during the transportation and sales of the beverage.

What's worse is that the leakage rate is much higher than that of glass bottles and aluminum cans. The longer the time, the more gas is lost and the worse the taste.

In remote areas, the logistics turnover time of beverages will be longer, and it is easier to buy cola that is "not carbonated".

In urban areas, where logistics are relatively developed, the proportion of people buying this kind of cola is much lower.

But even so, if you buy a Coke that is "lacking in gas", it will affect everyone's overall impression, making people feel that Coke in plastic bottles is not as good as that in glass bottles.

It is somewhat regrettable that due to cost and transportation convenience limitations, Coke in glass bottles has become increasingly rare.

But it doesn't matter, you can also choose to buy freshly made colas from fast food restaurants. These colas are freshly filled with carbon dioxide, and the amount of gas is relatively sufficient, so the taste is second only to glass bottles.

We would like to remind everyone that due to the poor sealing of paper cups, this type of cola is very easy to lose its gas during the delivery process.

If you want to get the best taste, it is best to go to the store and ask the waiter to make you a fresh cup and drink it immediately.

5. How to drink more healthily? Coke is a carbonated beverage and is acidic.

If we drink a lot of cola for a long time, it will corrode our tooth enamel to a certain extent, leading to the appearance of "cola teeth". The specific manifestations are toothache, black teeth, white spots on the tooth surface, etc.

So how can we avoid it by drinking?

A straw. This reduces the chance of your teeth coming into contact with the drink and can minimize damage to your teeth.

Image source: Internet

To summarize the correct way to drink Coke: 1. Buy a bottle of Coke in a glass bottle, chill it to 3℃ before drinking, or add lots of ice cubes before drinking.

2. Go to a fast food restaurant and order a freshly poured iced cola and drink it in the restaurant.

Of course, everyone has different preferences when it comes to cola.

Some people like it with full of gas, some people like it without gas; some people like it cool, some people like it cooked with shredded ginger in cola.

The best drinking posture we list is only for those who are looking for a cool and exciting feeling.

At the same time, we would also like to remind everyone that although Coke tastes good, its sugar content is not low.

If you can drink less, you should drink less.

If possible, I suggest you drink more water.

Image source: Internet

References:

[1] Zhao Jixiang, Liu Xiaobing. Explanation of the mystery of fructose syrup[J]. Starch and Starch Sugar, 2006, 000(004):1-3.

[2]https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/07/why-does-the-carbonation-taste-different-in-bottles-and-cans-of-soda.html