It’s the time of year when you can expect a flurry of invitations to Christmas parties, so inevitably you will be drinking fizz out of a plastic cup at some point.
But an expert has warned that pouring Champagne or any other type of sparkling wine into a disposable vessel can ruin the taste.
In fact, using anything other than a traditional glass flute may negatively affect the flavour of your fizz.
If you want your fizz to taste the best it can this Christmas, pour it into a glass flute instead of a plastic cup
Researchers at Applied Research Laboratories at the University of Texas at Austin found that the type of bubbles in a glass of sparkling wine can really affect the taste, Cosmopolitan reported.
And they discovered that bubbles form differently depending on the type of vessel the fizz is poured into.
If you pour Champagne or other sparkling wine into a plastic cup, for example, the bubbles apparently stick to the walls of the cup quite strongly, which causes larger bubbles to form.
Bubbles will become larger in plastic cups rather than in glass vessels and will negatively affect the taste
The larger the bubbles, the worse the wine will taste, according to the university researchers.
Styrofoam is also to be avoided this party season.
The author of the University of Texas study, Kyle S. Spratt, found that bubbles also form differently in styrofoam.
It turns out the bubble formation process on styrofoam is completely different than on glass.
‘If you ever have to resort to drinking champagne out of a styrofoam cup, the bubbles will be quite different,’ he said.
The study found that the bubbles in more expensive, fine sparkling wines are smaller and therefore make the wines taste better quality.