How can I keep sparkling beverages the fizziest as possible?

Question

I thoroughly dislike to drink beverages supposed to be sparkling once they have become still.

Apparently there's no definitive solution to this.

Inevitabily the bottle will be moved (repeatedly) while still in use, and the beverage inside is therefore inevitabily going to flatten at some point.

However I've got the feeling that something to improve the situation might be done regardless.

There's an urban legend around according to which a beverage stored in a bottle will keep its fizziness the best by not closing the bottle with a top and by putting a spoon from the side of the handle inside the bottle neck. Tested it and it doesn't work, or at least the results are not really satisfactory.

How can I keep sparkling beverages the fizziest as possible?

Answer 1

The problem is occurring because some of the CO2 is escaping into the air cavity at the top of the bottle which grows every time you pour more out. The gas pressure is greater in the liquid and it will equalise with the space in the bottle.

You need to somehow reduce the space in the bottle. You can do this with a plastic bottle by squeezing it, but this is actually counter-productive as escaping gas will squeeze it back out again.

So, you can transfer it to a smaller container or you could put something solid in the bottle (maybe baking beans - small food-grade ceramic things used for weighing down pastry before adding the filling). The problem with both of these approaches is that agitating the drink causes it to lose CO2 quicker.

One final thing you could try is adding a pinch of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to the bottle before quickly closing it. This will react with the acid in the drink (won't work with mineral water) and generate CO2 in the sealed bottle and may or may not change the flavour perceptibly.

Answer 2

Liquid retains c02 better when colder, so keeping it in the fridge will prolong its fizzyness. If these other suggestions don't pan out, there are soda making machines that you could repurpose by just using them to add c02 back into your drinks. They basically pressurize the container with c02 to force it into the liquid. You might could rig something together with a c02 tank and some valves if you wanted a more hack like experience. Places that sell these will have tanks, as well as paintball stores - which can also refill these tanks.

Answer 3

Even though the approaches in the answer by Dave sounds promising, I do believe you need to tackle the problem another way.

You state in a comment that you drink a glass a day, and that a bottle last about a week, but that there is little or no fizz left at the end. That is natural, and kind of hard to avoid when you don't finish it quickly.

I've got two suggestions for you which both are in the category keep the agitation of the soda to the minimum, and finish it off faster (that is limit the times you agitate the soda).

My primary suggestion is to start buying soda boxes, or in general in smaller containers. This way you'll empty it, before it goes still.

My secondary suggestion if you keep buying the larger variants is to cool it before opening it for the first time, and then when you open it divide it into multiple bottles with good lids.

You'll loose some fizz in this initial transfer, but it should be considerably less than when opening and closing the larger bottle once each day. Especially when you at end of the week open a smaller bottle which has only been opened once before (when it was filled up).

Answer 4

How about a soda saver pump thingy*? Scientists will certainly argue that this can't work because of, well, science (like Dalton's law), but the Amazon reviews tell a different story.

In chemistry and physics, Dalton's law (also called Dalton's law of partial pressures) states that in a mixture of non-reacting gases, the total pressure exerted is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the individual gases.

*The soda saver pump thingy is a small pump that replaces your soda cap. There are also DIY examples made out of bike pumps.

Answer 5

If you like to live dangerously you can add a carefully sized small piece of dry ice to the bottle after you have taken out your daily dose (slightly larger each day as the empty space is enlarged). This does require a regular source of dry ice and is not safe, if you add too much you create a bomb and people (mostly kids) have been maimed with similar experiments when handling a bottle that is pressurised higher than it can handle.

I think the other answer of making the drink VERY cold and decanting into smaller (VERY cold) pressure SAFE bottles is the way to go. My version is for Darwin award candidates.

Answer 6

You add a single raisin to the glass! It works with champagne at least. Once the fizz releases you can remove the raisin. Or, just eat it when you're done :~)