Happy New Year! How about a big fat mug of champagne?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Gerard Liger–Belair from France’s University of Reims wondered: Do bubblier champagnes taste better?
With German colleagues, he used mass spectroscopy to analyze bubbles.
Bubbles have what Liger-Belair calls an “overconcentration” of volatile compounds. Flavor and aroma carriers, there’s more of them in bubbles than in champagne.
These compounds have one hydrophilic—or water–loving—end, and one hydrophobic—or water-hating—end.
Cork pops, bubbles race to the surface—water-hating ends up. Bubble pops, compounds inside shoot away from the liquid and toward your nose and mouth.
So pour champagne into a tall, narrow glass. More surface area means more bubbles, more rockets of flavor.
Securing a date on New Year’s Eve? More research is needed.