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.