Why Does Coke From a Glass Bottle Taste Different?

Remember the ‘50s and ‘60s (your parents definitely do and if they don’t their parents do) how pretty much the only way to get a soda was glass bottle? And you had to pay an extra few cents for the bottle deposit. Those were the days back then (at least I’ve been told), when times were simpler and more fun. Mom-and-pop stores and small independent bottlers dotted the land. It was truly a golden age of soda before times of more mass market and mega-conglomerates. What better way to get back to those good old times, than glass bottled soda?

2. Environmental Reasons
It is a fact that glass bottles are the most sustainable soda packaging. Glass bottles are much more recyclable then plastic bottles and they don’t require synthetic chemicals either. So are aluminum cans you say, but glass bottles can trump those too because they are reusable as well.

Remember when you had to pay those extra few cents for a bottle deposit, it wasn’t some great conspiracy to force soda drinkers to make short term interest-free loans to store owners (though I hope they were smart enough to leverage it for that), but rather it was to ensure you’d bring the bottle back.

It was much cheaper (and sustainable) to clean and refill a bottle than make a new one. Glass bottles can be refilled hundreds if not thousands of times if done correctly. While it may be true that the major manufactures don’t reuse bottles anymore, a lot of microbreweries and independent bottlers still do and will sometimes even pay for empties.

 For whatever reason, glass Coke bottles are widely regarded to be superior drinking vessels. Perhaps it’s due to temperature variations, or a slightly tweaked formula, or maybe the chemical composition of the glass itself. Whatever it is, Coke from a glass bottle just tastes better: it’s science.

It doesn’t. That’s what Coca-Cola’s spokespeople say, anyway. “The great taste of Coca-Cola is the same regardless of the package it comes in,” they insist. Rather, they say, “the particular way that people choose to enjoy their Coke can affect their perception of taste.” Sure, most people would agree that the cola is indeed delicious and refreshing, and pouring it into a glass or serving it over ice could influence the sensation of its flavor.

But is it possible that the subtle variation in taste that some notice among aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles is more than just a psychological effect of their soda-consumption rituals?

Given that the formula is always the same, yes, according to Sara Risch, a food chemist and member of the Institute of Food Technologists. “While packaging and food companies work to prevent any interactions, they can occur,” she says.

For example, the polymer that lines aluminum cans might absorb small amounts of soluble flavor from the soda. Conversely, acetaldehyde in plastic bottles might migrate into the soda. The FDA regulates this kind of potential chemical contact, but even minute, allowable amounts could alter flavor.

Your best bet for getting Coke’s pure, unaltered taste is to drink it from a glass bottle, the most inert material it’s served in. Even that’s not a sure bet, though. Coca-Cola maintains strict uniformity in processes in all of its worldwide bottling facilities, but it concedes that exposure to light and how long the product sits on store shelves may affect the taste. So yeah, the packaging might mess with Coke’s flavor, but we’ll still take it any day over New Coke.

Sodas from glass bottles just taste better. Why? Glass is completely sterile, inert, and airtight. Plastic bottles breathe and will lose carbonation over time reducing the quality. Also, as the plastic begins to break down, chemicals can leak into the soda altering the flavor. Aluminum cans have coatings to protect the aluminum from the slightly acidic soda. However, bits of aluminum are still dissolved into the soda through microscopic holes which alters the flavor and quality of the soda. Glass bottles have none of these problems, and provide the crispest and purest flavor over the longest shelf life.

Source:

popsci.com