So *That's* Why Coke Tastes So Much Better at McDonald's
McDonalds + soda
Now that we know why McDonald’s ice cream machines are always broken, I think it’s high time we solve another Mickey D's mystery: Why McDonald’s Coke tastes so much better than other fast food chains. I mean, it’s rarely flat and as soon as you see the cola making its way up the straw, you already know it’s about to hit the spot. But why? It’s just soda (or pop, as I call it), right?
Coca-Cola enthusiasts have argued for years that there’s something special about the taste of McDonald's Coke. I'd personally go as far as to say that it’s better than a can from home. Call it chemistry or pure genius, there is some truth to McDonald’s Coke being so delicious. But why? To find out we reached out to a food scientist.
Related: What Are McDonald's Breakfast Hours In 2024?
So, Why Does Coke Taste Better at McDonald's?
As with a lot of superior products, the devil's in the details. Here's the McDonald's formula that creates a next-level cup of Coca-Cola.
1. It's pre-chilled. To paraphrase Vanilla Ice, it’s all about the cold, cold baby. In 2021, McDonald’s revealed on their website why their Coke tastes better, and one of their “secrets” is pre-chilling the Coca-Cola syrup. This helps preserve the precious bubbles (more on that later).
2. The water's better. The McDonald's site also mentions that their Coca-Cola is made with filtered water. “In order to ensure our drinks are always meeting a gold standard, we filter all the water before it enters fountain dispensers,” the site says. But how does that affect the drink?
According to food scientist, science writer and YouTuber, Abbey The Food Scientist, “soft drink producers will usually have their own water supplier or a filtration system to increase the quality of water. Most often, chlorine is removed as it can result in a "disinfectant" taste, the water hardness will be adjusted since it affects the acidity of the drink, and iron will be removed to limit color and flavor defects. Without this treatment, the end result is a Coke that has off-flavors and aromas due to low-quality, inconsistent water.”
3. They pay attention to the packaging. Many fast food restaurants use plastic bag-in-box Coke syrup, but McDonald’s has their Coke syrup delivered in stainless steel tanks. This packaging choice protects the syrup from temperature fluctuations, light exposure, and anything that could impact its taste. McDonald’s also chills their beverage systems and uses insulated tubes to carry the pre-chilled liquids to the fountains. And they’ve also created a “ratio of syrup set to allow for ice to melt”, the company states.
Why does this method work? Abbey notes that “any carbonated product that is kept in a container will gradually lose carbonation. This gives McDonald's the benefit of carbonating the Coke on-site and right before you drink it. Most products are traditionally prepared as a syrup‐plus‐water mix, in a ratio of some 1 part (volume) syrup to between 3 and 6 parts (volume) water. This allows a concentrated batch of syrup to be made and then proportioned with water to form the final product. The final product is then fed to a vessel pressurized with carbon dioxide gas. The rate of flow and the temperature of the carbon dioxide are critical to ensure the correct carbonation level. This is done at cool temperatures, which has the added benefit of carbon dioxide staying in the drink more easily.”
All of this science means that if you don’t want ice, your soda will still taste good, and if you’re given too much ice, the taste won’t get watered down. These methods keep a consistent temperature that gives you that strong fizz and crispness.
4. They sized up the straws. Have you ever noticed that McDonald’s straws are a bit wider than other fast food chains? As the fast food giant notes, “it’s slightly wider than a typical straw, so all that Coke taste can hit your taste buds.”
Related: All of McDonald's Dipping Sauces, Ranked Worst to First
How Do Cold Temperatures Affect the Taste of Coke?
You’ll unlikely find a warm, flat Coke at McDonald’s, and there’s a reason why. Abbey explains that “the ability of a beverage to hold carbon dioxide changes with temperature. The colder a liquid, the higher the solubility of carbon dioxide gas. In other words, the colder a beverage, the more carbon dioxide gas that can be dissolved in it. It's really these carbon dioxide bubbles that give Coke its bite or bubbliness in our mouth. This means at warmer temperatures, the Coke will be less carbonated and not taste quite right.”
With all of this extreme attention to detail, it's no wonder that McDonald's Coke is the gold standard.
Up next: The One Fast-Food Item Reba McEntire Calls 'Absolutely Wonderful'
Sources
Abbey Thiel, host of the YouTube channel, Abbey the Food Scientist, science writer and teacher
