The Easiest Ways To Decarbonate A Drink Using Pantry Items

Are you a soda hater? Did you spend your childhood wistfully watching your siblings fill up their cups with 7-Up and Sprite at McDonald's while you settled for water? Have you never been able to enjoy a root beer float? Although sparkling beverages have been popular for centuries — in fact, sparkling water is older than the United States — not everyone enjoys the fizzy sensation of carbonation. If you feel seen, we've got a hack for you to decarbonate your drink. The answer lies in the science of soda.

Carbonated drinks like soda are made by supersaturating a soda mixture with CO2, and then trapping it inside a container with a sealed lid. The bubbling effect that people either love or hate comes from the carbon dioxide trying to escape its seal, resulting in a multitude of bubbles that feel fizzy in your mouth as you sip the beverage. But if you add a small amount of sugar or salt to your drink, the CO2 can latch onto the crystals and escape much easier and quicker than simply leaving it open to the air, decarbonating your drink so you can enjoy its flavor without the bubbles.

Of course, you don't want to add so much of either of these ingredients that it messes with the drink's flavor — especially when soda already has so much sugar, a common additive. Just a teaspoon or two of sugar or a pinch of salt should be enough to do the trick without ruining the flavor. 

Don't have either ingredient on hand? There are also some other methods you can try to decarbonate your fizzy drink that don't require any add-ins. Pouring it over ice or stirring it with a spoon will similarly give the CO2 more surface area to escape to, and repeating the process of shaking up your drink and then slowly releasing the pressurized air will put the decarbonation process into hyperspeed and allow you to enjoy a flat beverage quickly. Just make sure you don't open the lid too fast, lest you risk spraying sticky soda across the table.

Hopefully with these hacks, you'll never have to miss out on a root beer float again — and if you're really enjoying the flavor of decarbonated soda, maybe you can even try introducing your friends and family to ice cream floats made with different sodas that aren't root beer.