Weird food science going on

[PhotonWrangler]

Lately I've gotten into drinking zero calorie gatorade and there seems to be some strange food science happening here. I've noticed that if I drink it cold, it can be quite tasty depending on the flavor, but when it gets to be a little bit lukewarm, the flavor disappears completely and it just tastes like drinking sweat. Usually I can taste foods better when the product is warmer, not colder. For instance yogurt and ice cream are tastier if they're just slightly melted - the coldness normally mutes the flavor a little bit. But it's completely backwards with gatorade (and probably some other sports drinks as well). Very strange how the temperature/taste relationship can be flipped on it's head like this.

 

[Poppy]

Perhaps the flavor is an aromatic compound that rapidly dissolves and evaporates. When cold it disappears slower, than when warm. If you let your drink get warm, by time you take your second sip, it might all be gone.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Perhaps the flavor is an aromatic compound that rapidly dissolves and evaporates. When cold it disappears slower, than when warm. If you let your drink get warm, by time you take your second sip, it might all be gone.

This seems possible. I could test this by letting it sit out and get warm, then chilling it again to see if the flavor returns.

 

[Olumin]

Zero sugar soda is a sin. Either drink the real stuff or drink water, no in-betweens.
But yes, almost all soda tastes much better the colder it is served. They are designed that way. I like to drink soda right at the freezing point in an ice-cooled glas + I get some slush ice at the end.

 

[Olumin]

Here in Germany we've had those 1 liter glas coke bottles again for few years now, like the ones they've had in the 70s&80s. Do you have these in the states too?

 

[bykfixer]

Olumin at my local grocery store there is 1/2 litre size coke in glass bottles in the Mexican food section as it is produced in Mexico. The rest of the coke products are on the soda row and the only glass bottle are 6oz size.

Body Armor sports drink tastes bolder at room temperature.
I used to enjoy gatorade zero but one day it just stopped quenching my thirst and instead caused me to crave water after drinking a bottle of it.

 

[Poppy]

I believe black cherry soda is more flavorful at room temperature but if I drink soda I add ice.

I drink Carmenere red wine at room temp, it is more flavorful that way.

 

[raggie33]

ive always wondered why eggs tatse diifent like scrambled vs sunny side up lol

 

[Olumin]

I often taste the difference between different bottle materials, regardless of beverage. The standard non refillable soft-plastic bottles will leach some chemicals into the drink over time, which can affect taste quite significantly. The refillable hard-plastic bottles we often have over here dont seem to have this problem, either because less of those chemicals are used, or because they get refilled & washed so many times its all already leeched out by the time I get it. Glas is of cause the best, I try to stick to it whenever I can & entirely avoid most plastic beverage containers.

That being said I can detect no difference whatsoever in taste between the 1l glas & 1l hard-plastic coke bottles. In fact the reusable plastic bottles tend to be more strongly carbonated, as the factory over-compensates for the expected loss of carbonation during storage due to diffusion of the gas though the plastic bottle.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Here in Germany we've had those 1 liter glas coke bottles again for few years now, like the ones they've had in the 70s&80s. Do you have these in the states too?

View attachment 31110

I see glass bottles of "real" Coke in the ethnic foods section and around certain holidays. Like Bykfixer said, they're usually made in Mexico. They also have a formula based on real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup so they have a more classic Coke taste.

I wish we had those reusable plastic bottles here. That sounds like a much better idea and probably does help reduce the leaching of chemicals into the product. I wonder if the formula has to be tweaked for plastic bottles vs glass to compensate for leaching.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

The carbonated beverage industry does not reuse plastic bottles in USA, do we?

 

[PhotonWrangler]

The carbonated beverage industry does not reuse plastic bottles in USA, do we?

Not for refilling AFAIK. They just get ground up into pellets and re-molded into something else.

 

[JimIslander]

Perhaps the flavor is an aromatic compound that rapidly dissolves and evaporates. When cold it disappears slower, than when warm. If you let your drink get warm, by time you take your second sip, it might all be gone.

Test this theory by heating unopened bottle in hot water. Pop the top and immediately drink. ;-)

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Test this theory by heating unopened bottle in hot water. Pop the top and immediately drink. ;-)

You go first.

 

[JimIslander]

You go first.

Never touch the stuff.

Water, saltwater, coffee, or bourbon for me. Literally all I drink. Bourbon less than once a week, but I do love some Woodford Double Oaked.

 

[kerneldrop]

Coffee changes flavors as it cools

 

[Monocrom]

Here in Germany we've had those 1 liter glas coke bottles again for few years now, like the ones they've had in the 70s&80s. Do you have these in the states too?

View attachment 31110

You can still find Coke glass bottles. But they are very rare. And, no 1 liter ones at all.

 

[Monocrom]

Never touch the stuff.

Water, saltwater, coffee, or bourbon for me. Literally all I drink. Bourbon less than once a week, but I do love some Woodford Double Oaked.

You drink saltwater?

 

[JimIslander]

You drink saltwater?

Absolutely. Warm saltwater for hydration and rehydration. If I touched sugar, which I don't, a half teaspoon would make it even more effective. A bit of food helps a lot.

I work in my warehouse 5 days a week. It ranges from 95 - 103 degrees six months of the year, with our hellish Southern humidity. I ride dirt bikes all summer, covered in armor from head to toe. I've got hydration and rehydration down to a fine tuned science.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

My advice, avoid artificial sweeteners entirely and stick with water or something with real sugar in moderation. Artificial sweeteners are poison. Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal) affects the nervous system and turns into formaldehyde when it reaches above 85 degrees F. Spenda, or Sucralose is chlorinated sugar. Chlorine is poisonous to your body so it tries to expel it any way it can through diarrhea and vomiting (hence your body doesn't absorb the sugar).
Stevia, however, is made from leaves of a Stevia plant and is actually a natural sweetener. As is the case, I believe this to be a much safer 0 calorie sweetener.

If your drink changed taste from heat, it probably has aspartame. Don't drink that garbage. Formaldehyde is good for two things, giving you cancer and preserving dead fetal pigs for science classes.