Why champagne tastes better from a wine glass

By Alice Lascelles

I blame my own fascination with fizzy drinks on my grandmother’s Sodastream, a gunmetal grey model from the 1970s that farted and burped most thrillingly. I’m not sure the drinks it produced – insipid cola, overly sweet ginger ale – were actually all that nice. But to my seven-year-old self, they still seemed incredibly luxurious. And 35 years on, not much has changed, if I’m honest. I still love a drink with a bubble: champagne, gin and tonics, and nose-tickling spritzes. Even humble soda water feels like a trade-up to me.

Apparently I’m not alone. A whole new generation of health-conscious millennials are now getting their kicks from fizzy drinks. “With sugar, artificial additives and, increasingly, alcohol on the blacklist, texture has emerged as a new frontier for liquid innovation,” says Paul Louis, director of Vandal, a drinks analyst. “We’re seeing much greater focus now on mouth-feel, which has resulted in a lot more sophisticated and nuanced carbonated drinks.”