How Carbonated Drinks Are Made

Carbonated drinks are a staple in the beverage industry. They offer an intriguing, bubbly drinking experience, with each sip sending fizzy bubbles dancing across your tongue. This effervescent experience comes in various beverages, from sodas and sparkling water to beers and champagnes, each catering to different tastes and preferences.

While these beverages have long been popular, their prevalence continues to expand, driven by innovative flavors and the alluring sensory experience that comes with each sip.

What is a Carbonated Beverage?

A carbonated beverage is simply a drink that has been infused with dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. This gives the drink a bubbly, fizzy sensation when consumed. It’s noticeably different from flat or still drinks, as its characteristic fizz offers a fresh and refreshing experience!

Dozens of beverages are carbonated. Sodas, sparkling waters, seltzers, and sparkling wines are just a few of the many carbonated beverages available on today’s market. These effervescent beverages have been around for centuries, dating all the way back to the 18th century, when scientists initially discovered the process of dissolving CO2 in water.

The commercial carbonation scene as we know it today didn’t appear until the early 19th century, though. Johann Jacob Schweppe set the stage for commercially carbonating beverages, devising a process to manufacture carbonated mineral water. In these early years, flavored sparkling drinks weren’t an option. It wasn’t until years later that flavored sodas, among many other carbonated beverages, became widespread options.

What is Carbonation in Drinks?

Carbonation in drinks is simply dissolved carbon dioxide. When dissolved in water, this colorless, odorless gas forms carbonic acid (H2CO3), giving carbonated beverages a hint of tanginess. This tangy flavor, combined with the bubbles that dance across your tongue, makes carbonated beverages distinctly unique.

Beverage makers leverage pressure and temperature to dissolve CO2 into the drink of choice, whether wine or soda. At higher pressures, more CO2 can dissolve in the liquid. In addition, cooler temperatures can allow liquids to retain more CO2, making it easier to achieve and maintain carbonation.

So, beverage makers use a combination of specific pressure and temperatures to produce perfectly carbonated drinks. Once you open the beverage, the pressure is released, causing the CO2 to escape as bubbles.

How Do They Carbonate Drinks?

Beverage makers carbonate drinks by infusing CO2 into a liquid of choice, such as beer, wine, or soda. There are two main types of carbonation in a beverage: natural carbonation and forced carbonation.

The first type, natural carbonation, uses the natural fermentation process to produce carbon dioxide. During the process, yeast consumes sugars in the liquid, producing alcohol and CO2 as byproducts. Since this method is naturally occurring, it’s commonly used to carbonate beverages that require a fermentation period, like beer or champagne. To get the desired level of carbonation, these beverages use force carbonation after fermentation is complete.

The second type, forced carbonation, involves injecting CO2 gas directly into the liquid under high pressure. With this method, beverage producers can carefully control the amount of carbon dioxide in the drink. Given the possibility for precise control, this method is most commonly used in commercial beverage production, for sodas, beer, cider, sparkling water and others.

How to Carbonate Drinks: Methods and Techniques

Beverage makers use various methods and techniques to integrate carbon dioxide into their beverages. Some are suited for small-scale at-home brewing, while others are capable of large-scale production.

Home Carbonation Methods

Home brewers can use various methods to carbonate their homemade beverages. Various devices, like NitroBrew single-serve system, SodaStream, allow you to carbonate beverages at home on a small scale. These machines inject CO2 from canisters into the beverage, giving it the characteristic bubbly feel without the need for commercial carbonation machines.

Aside from these machines, you could use DIY fermentation to naturally carbonate certain beverages. For example, you might make ginger beer, using the fermentation process to naturally infuse the beverage with CO2.

Commercial Carbonation Methods

At-home carbonation methods work perfectly fine for small-scale carbonation processes, but they don’t quite cut it for a commercial-sized operation. That’s where methods like inline carbonation, tank carbonation, and bottle carbonation come in handy.

Inline carbonation involves injecting CO2 into the beverage as it flows through a pipe. This part usually happens right before bottling, thus ensuring consistently perfect carbonation levels.

Tank carbonation involves large tanks and CO2 injectors. Beverage makers inject the CO2 into the tank and agitate the mixture to promote absorption, resulting in a bubbly beverage. This method is most common in breweries and soda manufacturing plants.

The last of the common commercial carbonation methods, bottle carbonation, adds carbon dioxide at the last step of the process: bottling. In this process, beverage makers fill each bottle with the beverage and inject CO2 directly into it. Since this method is used on individual bottles, it’s not quite as efficient and is more common among specialty beverages.

You can read more about the Inline carbonation and xFlow technology here!

Beverage Production Process

1. Ingredient preparation: This first step in the production process is prep. Beverage makers source and prepare everything they need to make the drink, including water, sweeteners, flavors, and CO2.
2. Mixing and blending: Beverage makers combine specific amounts of each ingredient, blending them to create a uniform beverage base. In many cases, this includes syrups, flavor concentrates, and sweeteners.
3. Pasteurization or sterilization: During this step, beverage makers pasteurize or sterilize the beverage to destroy any harmful microorganisms. This helps ensure the beverage is safe to consume and promotes its shelf life.
4. Carbonation: The prepared beverage is carbonated by dissolving CO2 into the liquid under controlled conditions.
5. Bottling and packaging: Last but not least, the finished product is bottled and packaged for distribution. This helps ensure the carbonation doesn’t escape before the consumer opens the beverage.

Making Carbonated Drinks: In a Nutshell

Carbonated drinks have long been and will continue to be a staple in the beverage industry. It continues to evolve as consumer preferences change and technological advancements become more readily available.

For example, there’s a growing demand for low-sugar or sugar-free carbonated beverages and options made with all-natural ingredients and flavors. These fizzy drinks continue to adapt to ever-changing needs. As those demands change, so do the techniques and methods beverage makers use to develop these effervescent drinks. And as new tech emerges, those techniques and methods further improve, becoming more efficient and streamlined than ever.

At QuantiPerm, we’re dedicated to providing high-end equipment that helps make your beverage-making process as efficient as possible. From our xFlowCO2FRC system, designed to automate inline carbonation, to our MicroCarb system, made for precise and manual control over carbonation levels, we’re here to help you streamline your production process.