The combination of being ice cold, the perfect fizz and the distinctive taste of Coca-Cola is hard to beat, but it's now scientifically proven that it does taste better at McDonald's than at home.
Factors including dilution, temperature and if the water used for it is filtered or not before it comes through the drinks fountain also affect the taste and it makes getting the perfect soft drink a fine art - and one that the fast food outlet appears to have nailed according to a fanbase on Reddit.
According to food scientist Abbey Thiel there's a scientific reason your soft drinks tastes better at McDonald's than it does just buying a can of pop from the shop or getting it out of the fridge at home.
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Thiel told Parade : "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."
In short, McDonald's filtering the water means your Coca-Cola tastes better and has less of the things that will detract from the taste as well as being bad for you.
It's not just a myth that the drink tastes better from McDonald's as a Reddit thread titled 'Does McDonald’s Coke really taste the best?' has users praising the fizzy drink at the fast food restaurant and how it tastes different. One user posted: "Hands down, my favorite place to get a coke." Another added: "It’s the straw that makes it. I used to get McDonald’s on the way in to the pizza place I ran." A third wrote: "I’d refill with our coke and it’d taste the same. I’ve also gotten mcd and forgot a straw so used our thinner ones. Taste nothing like mcd coke. Sounds [weird ] but try it. Needs to be a big straw." Another added: "Facts McDonald’s fountain coke hits different."
The taste theory has also been backed up by McDonald’s bosses, who in 2021 revealed that their straws are also a factor in making their soft drinks taste better. They explained that their straw "is slightly wider than a typical straw so all that Coke taste can hit your taste buds."
Another reason the Coke tastes better is also down to how the fast food outlet makes their drinks before you receive it, as McDonald’s pre-chills the water and Coke syrup before they go into fountain machines in a special ratio accounting for ice melting too. This means the taste isn't diluted as Thiel explained: "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."
