Eli5: Why does too much sugar in beverages like tea and coffee can taste overly sweet but with soft drinks like coke, that already has so much sugar, it doesn’t taste “overly sweet”.

Question

Eli5: Why does too much sugar in beverages like tea and coffee can taste overly sweet but with soft drinks like coke, that already has so much sugar, it doesn’t taste “overly sweet”.

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Soft drinks have lots of acidity (sour taste) from carbonation and preservatives, so more sugar is needed to counteract the sour and make it taste sweet.

Answer 2

Drink carbonated soda water without sweetener. Notice how bitter it tastes compared to normal tap water?

Soda has so much sugar to offset that taste and end up with something moderately sweet, while the same amount of sugar in a non-carbonated drink would be overbearing because it’s starting off with a neutral tasting water.