The thread on how to make a drink go flat in the shortest time possible got me wondering, why are soft drinks pumped full of carbon dioxide gas? Don’t get me wrong; I think carbonation is the best thing ever to have been thought up by the beverage industry, but why? Why was it in the first place to enable people to find out that it tastes good? And a bonus question: why do carbonated drinks sting your tongue much more when you tense up your tongue than when it is relaxed?
I’ll wager a guess that is has something to do with Effervescence looking and feeling so cool. As for the sting on your tongue? You got me there, I know exactly what you mean but I have no idea how it works. It could have something to do with chemical reaction between the hydrochloric acid and sodium bicarbonate leeching into the pores between your taste buds and stinging…just a guess though
Sparkling wines and beers had bubbles before carbonated soft drinks came along, and there was something of a fad in seltzer water around the time of the invention of Dr. Pepper, Coca-Cola, etc.
So people already liked bubbly drinks when they started carbonating soft drinks.
Water was pumped full of carbon dioxide long before soft drinks, and I am pretty sure that it came naturally with dissolved gases in it long before we did that artificially.
Which leads to the reason why we did it artificially. People drank the naturally gasified waters for their supposed medicinal/healing power. I bet that the Romans drank gasified waters at Bath, in England. This practice has continued to this day in the various “spas” and “waters” all over Europe.
Were these waters healing? Partially yes; my guess is that they contained dissolved minerals that acted as purgatives. Mostly, the spas were healing because they took their high-class visitors away from a life of constant drinking, overeating, and carousing.
OK, back to carbonation. Surely some of those waters contain dissolved carbon dioxide, a side-effect of running through carbonates underground. The result is slightly acidic, and this stimulates the taste buds on the forward parts of our tongues. The overall effect you already know: the water has a flavor that we call “sparkly”!
The minute we figured out how to reproduce this ourselves, we started making it. Dunno when that happened; try Wikipedia.
Soft drinks are just a natural addition. Lots of things taste better “sparkling”, including apple juice, wine, and thick sugar syrups mixed with weird flavorings! The combination of the tongue and mouth stimulation with the other flavor provides an enhanced experience.
Speaking of carbonation, you should try really fresh, light-roasted coffee made by French press, or an espresso done by a trained barista. Both of these have carbonation in them that you can easily taste on the front of your tongue. It can be quite acidic, what coffee connisseurs(sp?) call “sour”, but in a pleasing and exciting way.
As a personal opinion, I am a sucker for the burn.
Even when I was a dumb kid, I would even put up with the price and ultimate letdown of Perrier just to sock it to my throat for that one moment of tingly sensation.
Coke, Perrier, and most ginger ales usually do the trick. Oh, and Fresca… and for the record, classic Listerine as a gargle… which is not carbonated but still has that scorched-Earth effect.
I don’t have any other masochistic tendencies but those commercials with sweaty-headed sports people swilling down a cold, carbonated drink and then doing a slow-motion/freeze frame “Kaaaa!” thing pretty much sum up the glory of carbonation for me.