Some people might consider the taste of Pepsi from a glass bottle as a *perception, but the science might say otherwise. Pepsi and other delightfully fizzy soft drinks actually did taste better.
Taste is much more than just a perception and here’s why:
Glass is inert, meaning it doesn’t react chemically with the contents. This ensures that the taste of Pepsi isn’t altered by the container material, unlike plastic bottles or aluminum cans which can slightly affect the flavor due to trace interactions or the leaching of material compounds into the drink.
Glass bottles are less permeable to gases compared to plastic. This means carbon dioxide, which is responsible for the soda’s fizz, stays in the soda longer, preserving the sensation and flavor associated with freshly opened Pepsi. Over time, plastic bottles allow CO2 to escape, potentially making the soda taste flatter sooner.
Although not directly affecting taste, glass can keep beverages colder for longer if chilled beforehand, and temperature can influence how we perceive taste. A colder Pepsi might taste crisper and more refreshing.
There’s a nostalgic element to drinking from glass bottles, which might enhance the perceived taste experience. The ritual associated with glass bottles, like the sound of opening a bottle or the feel of glass, can psychologically impact how one tastes and enjoys the beverage.
Plastic bottles and cans can sometimes impart a very subtle taste to the beverage. Plastic can transfer acetaldehyde, which might alter the soda’s flavor slightly, and cans have a polymer lining that some claim can absorb or alter flavors. Glass doesn’t have these issues.
Glass bottles are often associated with a time when sodas might have been consumed more promptly after purchase, reducing the time for any potential degradation in taste. Also, the storage conditions for glass bottled sodas in the past might have been different, potentially in cooler, darker places which preserve taste better.
Over all it’s pretty clear that while the formula of Pepsi might not have changed, the container it comes in significantly impacts the drinking experience.
Today’s insights are based on consumer perception and nostalgia as much as they are on the physical properties of glass versus other materials.
The preference for glass might also reflect a broader appreciation for how beverages were consumed in the past, with possibly different recipes or natural ingredients like real sugar, which some argue also tasted better than today’s high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners.
