Carbonated Water Lexicon: Temperature and CO 2 Level Influence on Descriptive Ratings

A lexicon for describing the sensory perception of carbonated water was developed by a trained panel. It included: salty, sour, bitter, cooling, astringency, bubbly, bubble size, bubble sound, gas expansion feeling, bite, bum, and numbing. Four CO 2 levels (noncarbonated, and 1.69, 2.75, and 4.63 volumes) and two temperatures (3 and 10°C) were tested. Ratings of all descriptors, except cooling, increased significantly as CO 2 level increased. Bubble size and bubble sound were rated higher for 10°C samples while cooling, bite, burn, and numbing were rated higher for 3°C samples. The descriptors were classified into four groups (cooling, taste, trigeminal, and mechano‐reception descriptors) based on principal component analysis.