Why do so many people seem to enjoy carbonated drinks?

It’s that exquisite burning sensation as the perfectly chilled Pepsi slides down my throat that had me hooked :)

I second Merriment. Only make that Diet Mt. Dew for me ;)

@Merriment It’s funny——I love really hot, spicy food, so hot it burns in your mouth, but I have never gotten to like carbonation in drinks. I like the pain caused by really spicy foods, but the “tingly burning” sensation of pop, spritzers, uh no. Lol.

@poofandmook I love Mountain Dew! But only when it’s flat. Maybe that’s why I prefer Kool-Aid to most pop. ;)

@MRSHINYSHOES: Mountain Dew is HEINOUS flat, to me. It just tastes like syrup. Even the diet, which isn’t all that sweet.

I enjoy a cola (generally Mountain Dew, Sprite, Mr. Pibb, or root beer) that is lightly carbonated. I enjoy the fizzy feeling of the carbonation gathering up in your nose, and I don’t know any child who hasn’t guzzled some pop just for the effect of burping monstrously.

I often prefer my carbonated beverages out of a fountain machine as opposed to bottled or canned. I can handle bottled Mtn. Dew, but I have to shake at least half of the fizz out of it. It seems like a lot of bottled/canned pops are carbonated to the point that when you take a big sip of them, you’re swallowing mostly big carbonation bubbles, and I’m just not that masochistic.

The bubbles tickle my nose! Tee hee hee!

Edited for stupidity

@mrentropy: I hope you mean tickle. Because I wouldn’t want something “tinkling” on my nose.

@poofandmook It’s like… have a tiny fairy bop your nose…
Edited and fixed, thanks

I haven’t bopped anybody’s nose.

They always elicit a wonderful belch!

I’m not fond of carbonated drinks I have a sensitive palate. But actually I agree with @MRSHINYSHOES all that bubbling and fizzing takes away from the flavor of the drink.

@tinyfaery: LOL. Maybe you should :x I can give you a few names who could use a bop or twelve.

I think nothing feels better than an ice-cold, fizzy burny soda on an insanely hot day.

I have no idea. I don’t like them at all. Never ever drank soda as a kid.

I mean, I drink them sometimes with alcohol and I drink beer. But I drink that stuff for…alternative purposes… :\

I liked carbonated drinks but they don’t like me. I switched to Gatorade a few years ago because carbonation was making my acid-reflux worse. I still enjoy a mug of beer or glass of champagne, but must pay the price by taking acid surpressors first.

I love a nice strong coke, but I can understand what you mean. A lot of people who drink carbonated drinks are doing so for entertainment. By this I mean they may be sipping it occasionally simply to enjoy the sensations. They’re not looking to actually drink a beverage to quench their thirst.

I LOVE my drinks carbonated. I even add club soda to juice so I can have fizzy juice! I think it is more refreshing, and quenches my thirst more effectively. Diet Pepsi is the perfect example.

@desiree333 Carbonated drinks do the opposite for me—they make me feel more thirsty!

I like a really cold Coke or root beer once in a while, but on the whole I prefer noncarbonated drinks. Although, I never turn down a mimosa! And don’t even get me started on prosecco mixed with peach juice. Mmmmmm!

@MissAusten hahah I am addicted to carbonated things! Yumm root beer, now I’m thirsty :)
That’s funny that it does the opposite for you though. Personally I don’t like Coke, it leaves this filmy residue on my teeth that feels like plaque.

I cannot stand flat beer or soda, though I do not like them overly carbonated either and have been known to shake a little of the “fizz” out or let them sit for a few minutes until it works it’s way out naturally. I cannot tolerate seltzer or champagne at all.

It’s more of a texture thing really, at least for me. That, and too much carbonation gives me horrible gas pains that won’t work themselves out from either end.

I never could understand it. I was always the go to girl when sodas lost their fizz, because I don’t like the fizz.

@YARNLADY A little bit of fizz makes the flavor “sharper”, and I prefer Pepsi (with it’s slightly lemony taste) over Coke (with a more orangey, and thus “duller” taste). That said, too much fizz is simply too much.

We like the fizz.

Crisp and refreshing. The only thing I don;t like about most sodas is the HFCS which makes them unbearably sweet.

The sweetness is even more powerful when the soda is flat and the carbonation is gone. Blech!

Caffeine addiction.

@JLeslie I drink at least a 6-pack of Pepsi during my workday alone in addition to my jumbo-sized cup of coffee in the morning. I know about that all too well ;)

@jerv Now that is impressive. I rarely say this, but I think you should cut back.

@poofandmook “Heinous”——-lol!

@DominicX I am down your alley. I generally don’t like sodas at all, and even more so because of the carbonation. I am a whino for wine, however. lol

@jerv That’s a lot of Pepsi!!! Six cans?? Yikes!

@YARNLADY I can’t understand it either. lol

I like plain soda. It does my tummy good.

I gotta have that fizz, or else it’s not soda. It’s like drinking molasses. It’s nasty as hell!

Diet Pepsi soothes my stomach when it’s sore. I think the carbonation is responsible for helping my tummy aches. Mmm love it!

@ Anybody who says they like Coke -

Anything that removes the tarnish from a penny and then puts it back on again probably doesn’t belong in my stomach. Just sayin’.

@wyrenyth Pretty sure the acid in your stomach can do the same, your stomach is most likely the least of your worries when it comes to Coke.

@JLeslie Perhaps, but I still can’t imagine actually drinking coke. It probably helps that I don’t like the taste. :D

@wyrenyth Well, I am not going to try to talk you into it, because I would never say Coke is good for you, although I do enjoy it immensely when I allow myself. Consider it a gift you don’t like it. I consider it a gift I don’t like many foods made with dairy like cream cheese, sour cream, cheesecake, whipped cream. I could go on. All bad.

@JLeslie We will have to agree to disagree, considering I love foods cooked with most any dairy product available. Especially cream cheese, which – along with chocolate – is my one particular weakness. Mmmm, chocolate cheese cake.

Having been raised in the Northern US, I’ve simply always been more partial to Pepsi. That may be part of my problem, I’m ‘expecting’ Pepsi, but actually getting Coke instead. They are certainly two distinctly different flavors.

@wyrenyth Wait, you think Pepsi is less currosive than Coke?

Where do you live Purchase, NY? I am from the NE and it is Coke all the way. My mom would not go to Burger King when I was little because it had a Pepsi contract at the time. She used to tape Coke commercials from radio spots onto cassettes to listen to it – obsessed. My husband did work for Pepsi for a while though.

I don’t think Pepsi and Coke have anthing to do with being from the north or south, except maybe if you live in Atlanta. Pepsi is in NY, but Coke in my mind is what Jews and Italians drink, so at least 50% of NY city is partial to Coke the way I figure it (I am kind of making all that up, although I am half serious, it is true that 40–50 years ago Jews favored Coke, Hersheys, Chrysler, there must be other things). Pepsi actually spent quite a bit marketing towards black people back in the day, and I actually associate Pepsi with the south. But, now, in present day, it probably does not apply.

They definitely taste completely different. There we agree.

I’m from Detroit, Michigan. They have a fairly large distribution market there. I grew up completely surrounded by Pepsi.

@wyrenyth Well I graduated from Michigan State University and my roommates were all cocaholics like me. One from just outside of Toledo in Temperance, MI and the other Grand Rapids. Meanwhile, I believe you that your community was very Pepsi oriented. Are you actually from Detroit, or the suburbs? I would guess years ago Pepsi focused on cities like Detroit for the very reasons I mentioned above, and the advertising, focus, and saturation of Pepsi might explain some of the loyalty in Detroit even many years later when it is not relavant anymore. Not sure.

Pontiac, which is a suburb, and Rochester, which is a little further out. Kind of irrelevant, considering that I had family from other parts of the state – including just outside of Lansing, Grand Haven, and other little suburbs – who were also Pepsi-loyal. The only person in my family who ever drank Coke was my aunt, who liked Diet Coke with her Bacardi.

I just don’t remember seeing Coke as often when I lived in Michigan. I certainly remember it being a culture shock when I moved to Georgia and the brand name seemed to be everywhere. Of course, Atlanta is the “Home” of Coke, and I’ve been down here for ten years. Everything down here is “Coke”. Sprite is Coke, Mountain Dew is Coke – if it fizzes, it’s Coke. I suppose it’s entirely possible that my memories are skewed.

@wyrenyth I went to school in southern Indiana, and a lot of people down there called every soda Coke. I remember the first time I went to a McDonald’s there and ordered a coke. The girl behind the counter said, “What kind?” I was like, “Um…Coke!” When the next person ordered and was asked what kind of Coke she wanted, she said “Sprite.”

@MissAusten: That’s just stupid. If they called everything Cola, that would make sense. But Coke is clearly a name brand. I know they do that in the south but it always irritates me.

It irritates me, too. It’s okay. I retaliate by calling it soda, or pop, or the ever offensive soda pop, which seems to drive southerners batty.