Why Drinks Taste Better When Sipped Through A Straw

http://www.finecooking.com/item/19119/why-straws-make-the-drink-better

by jamesbressi • 16 years ago

74 20 16 years ago

finecooking.com

duck• 16 years ago

And that, in a nutshell, is why some things taste better through a straw.

It doesn't explain why some things don't taste better through a straw like ice tea or beer.

lionhearted• 16 years ago

> It doesn't explain why some things don't taste better through a straw like ice tea or beer.

I wonder if it's partly cultural - in Guilin, China there's a place called Jack Coffee that sells coffee in a covered plastic cup that you drink through a straw. At first I was turned off by the idea, but after a few days I came to enjoy it.

I'm in Vietnam now, and my first night I met an old friend. He ordered a beer, put two ice cubes in the glass, and poured the beer over the ice. I said, "Beer on ice...?" He said, "Hmm?" Me: "You've got ice in the glass. And you pour the beer on the ice." He says, "Oh, yeah, I didn't get it at first, but now I'm converted."

So I wonder how much it's cultural - also, it seems like a lot of things that aren't drank from a straw like tea, coffee, wine are generally more high status/high fashion type signifier than something like milk or soda.

AmericanOP• 16 years ago

It should be noted that the beer was probably heineken or some variant. I reacted the same way the first time I saw it, but it turns out that particular brand on rocks makes a refreshing, frothy and very tasty drink to sip on in hot weather as long as you don't let it sit. I don't even like heineken that much, but paired with a glass of cubed ice it's now replaced corona et al as my hot climate beer.

pierre_M• 16 years ago

OK, that's part of the answer: now why do some other drinks (beer and wine spring to mind) taste worse through a straw?

tptacek2• 16 years ago

Because not all volatiles taste good, or appreciate aeration?

mynameishere• 16 years ago

The same reason that beer tastes bad from a can--you don't get the smell.

swombat• 16 years ago

I beg to differ. Beer tastes better from a glass bottle than from a can. The smell doesn't account for everything there.

lg• 16 years ago

I've heard it's supposed to taste better in a can, because a can is better-sealed than a bottle and offers better protection against sunlight. Though personally I can't tell the difference.

rdrimmie• 16 years ago

The same principle of 'temperature matters'. Some things are better cold.

josefresco• 16 years ago

Good beer should be good warm as well.

tptacek2• 16 years ago

Apparent answer: aeration (mostly).

Also, sucking a straw forces you to drink in a way that maximizes exposure to your palate, somewhat the same way "pro" wine tasters drink wine.

If you have an hour or two free, get one of those little wine aerators and do the taste test. It's a night-and-day difference.

This also appears to be one of the topics addressed in Myrhvold's epic _Modernist Cuisine_.

flatulent1• 16 years ago

Perhaps this relates to the experience I've heard some relate, finding that food tastes better when camping. There's more fresh air, more air movement, and perhaps deeper breathing from moving around more.

prawn• 16 years ago

You can taste anything in that way by bubbling it through your teeth - I do it with wine when tasting, but also sometimes with beer, cordials, etc - it enhances the flavour. No need for a straw.

rwaliany• 16 years ago

Coke w/ ice tastes better w/o a straw and directly from the glass...

btilly• 16 years ago

That's probably because the bubbles are naturally popping and putting lots of it in the air. When you drink from the cup you get more of that air, with the straw you don't.

nocman• 16 years ago

Maybe I'm weird (and I've been accused of that before), but I can't think of a single beverage that tastes better to me through a straw.

All cold drinks taste best (to me) direct from a glass (and, I mean one made of glass). Hot coffee, tea and cocoa taste best drunk directly from a ceramic mug. I can't think of any other hot drinks I've had recently, but I suspect I'd pick the ceramic mug for them also.

gms• 16 years ago

Though uncouth, I've noticed that eating with your mouth open has a similar effect.

dfischer• 16 years ago

I find that all sodas from a plastic bottle are so much worse than a can, straw or not.

Why Drinks Taste Better When Sipped Through A Straw

Related Stories