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Why Drinks Taste Better When Sipped Through A Straw

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Re: Why Drinks Taste Better When Sipped Through A Straw

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 t…

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.

umm, they do that because they do not have refrigerators. and people probably shouldn't be drinking stuff with ice if they are sensitive to waterborne bacterias...

Re: Why Drinks Taste Better When Sipped Through A Straw

#22
post #4

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_.

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.
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