What is the purpose of carbonation in a functional beverage? Here's an in-depth dive into Taylor Rasmussen's interview on high acid and carbonation.
Watch his full interview
For decades, carbonation has been treated as the finishing touch — the sparkle added to a beverage after everything else is done. It’s what makes a soda crisp, a seltzer refreshing, a kombucha lively. But carbonation isn’t just about bubbles. Carbonation is a powerful, multi-dimensional formulation tool that shapes how a product tastes, feels, performs, and even how long it lasts.
At Sensapure, we think about carbonation differently. We don’t see it as an ingredient you add at the end. We see it as a strategic decision that must be considered from the very beginning of product development — one that influences pH, flavor balance, ingredient interactions, preservation, and shelf stability. When used intentionally, carbonation can solve complex formulation challenges in the beverage industry, from masking bitterness and preserving delicate top notes to improving microbial stability and extending shelf life.
Core Benefits of Carbonation in Formulation:
"So the carbonation actually helps bring down your pH. And helps to also preserve your system." Taylor Rasmussen adds, "Carbonation can actually enhance the intensity of what's being tasted."
In other words, carbonation isn't just bubbles—it's a tool.
And the stakes have never been higher. As consumers demand cleaner labels, more sophisticated active ingredients, and functional benefits that go beyond hydration, beverage brands are racing to innovate. Carbonation is emerging as one of the most versatile levers in that race. It can amplify flavor while reducing sugar, elevate mouthfeel without added calories, and support safety without harsh preservatives. It’s also paving the way for entirely new product categories — from carbonated protein waters and sparkling adaptogen tonics to effervescent botanical sodas and hybrid functional drinks.
Today, we’ll explore how carbonation is reshaping beverage formulation from the ground up. We’ll look at how it impacts flavor chemistry, mouthfeel, and preservation; how to strategically design carbonated functional drinks; and where innovation is headed next.
Carbonation is not a finishing touch. It’s a living part of a beverage’s structure — influencing chemistry, stability, and sensory experience at every level. To use it well, you must understand how it interacts with the other components of a formula. At Sensapure, that’s how we approach beverage development: carbonation isn’t an afterthought, it’s part of the foundation.
Carbonation’s most dramatic effect is on flavor. Dissolved carbon dioxide changes how volatile aroma compounds behave, intensifying top notes and brightening flavors. This means that a beverage that tastes flat or muted as a still product can become vibrant and dynamic once carbonated.
“A lot of times in a still beverage, so a beverage without carbonation, something might not be very intense or not as enjoyable, but then when you add carbonation to it, it enhances that experience. Carbonation is actually helpful to improve the taste experience.”
—Taylor Rasmussen, High Acid Beverage Lab Manager
This is especially critical in functional beverages, where bitter or earthy actives — like caffeine, adaptogens, or botanical extracts —dominate the palate. Carbonation helps lift desirable flavor characteristics while balancing or masking off notes. It influences acidity perception: carbonated beverages often taste more acidic, allowing formulators to use lower acid loads while still achieving the desired tartness.1 That helps protect sensitive flavor compounds and reduce formulation stress without sacrificing sensory appeal.
Sensory Effects of Carbonation:
The relationship between carbonation and acidulants is delicate but crucial. Citric acid provides bold tang, malic offers a smoother sourness, and fumaric delivers strong pH-lowering power with minimal flavor impact. The right blend shapes both taste and carbonation behavior. Too much acid can dull carbonation and destabilize the beverage, while too little can compromise safety. At Sensapure, we fine-tune this balance to achieve both microbial control and ideal flavor expression.
Carbonation doesn’t just affect how a beverage tastes — it changes how it feels. The tactile “bite” of escaping CO₂ provides a multi-sensory experience that can make a drink feel lighter, crisper, and more refreshing.2 That sensation is particularly valuable in functional beverages, which often include active ingredients that add heaviness or chalkiness.
Carbonation can even mimic body and richness without the need for added sugar or fat. A sparkling hydration beverage, for example, often feels more substantial and satisfying than its still counterpart — even when the formula is identical. This opens doors for brands seeking indulgent experiences while maintaining clean labels and low calorie counts.
There’s also a direct link between carbonation and sweetness perception. Carbonated drinks generally require less sweetener to achieve the same level of perceived sweetness because bubbles enhance overall flavor intensity. This effect is particularly useful when working with bitter or astringent compounds, as carbonation softens their impact and rounds out the overall profile.
At Sensapure, we leverage carbonation’s ability to modulate mouthfeel and flavor perception as part of our flavor system design. It’s not just about making something taste “good” — it’s about engineering a complete sensory experience.
While carbonation’s sensory impact is well known, its role in preservation is equally powerful — and often overlooked. Dissolved CO₂ lowers a beverage’s pH slightly, supporting acidulants and antimicrobial agents in creating an environment where spoilage organisms can’t thrive. This “stacked hurdle” approach — layering carbonation with acidity, preservatives, and packaging barriers — helps extend shelf life without relying on heavy chemical preservatives that might conflict with clean-label claims.3
Carbonation also plays a critical role in managing dissolved oxygen (DO), a key factor in oxidative degradation. Too much oxygen can lead to off-flavors, color changes, and nutrient loss. By optimizing DO levels during carbonation and filling, we can preserve flavor integrity and product stability over time.
This dual action — lowering pH and reducing oxygen exposure — makes carbonation one of the few formulation tools that improve flavor, texture, and safety simultaneously. It’s not just a feature of the beverage; it’s a fundamental part of how we build long-lasting, great-tasting products.
To harness carbonation’s full potential, you can’t treat it as a switch you flip at the end. It must shape decisions from day one. Every ingredient, process, and packaging choice interacts with carbonation — and those interactions can determine whether a beverage succeeds or fails.
The cornerstone of beverage formulation is pH control. For most acidified beverages, a pH of 4.1 or below is required for microbial safety, with 4.0 often being the target. Some products can stretch to 4.6 if combined with additional “hurdles” like carbonation and preservatives, but only with careful validation.
Because carbonation slightly lowers pH, it can reduce the need for acidulants — which helps maintain a smoother flavor profile. But this also means buffering systems must be managed with precision. Ingredients like sodium citrate and potassium citrate, which can raise pH, require careful balancing to ensure the beverage remains stable and safe.
Protein stability is another challenge. Proteins are prone to precipitation near their isoelectric points, particularly in acidic environments. Pre-acidified proteins and stabilizers like xanthan gum and carrageenan can help maintain clarity and texture in carbonated systems. At Sensapure, we combine ingredient selection with precise formulation techniques to ensure proteins stay in solution and the beverage remains visually and texturally appealing.
Pressure tolerance, container wall strength, and closure systems all determine how much carbonation a product can safely hold. Over-carbonation can cause off-flavors or even container failure, while under-carbonation results in a flat, unsatisfying product.
These considerations must be addressed early in the development process, not left until after the formula is complete. Benchtop carbonation often produces lower CO₂ levels than commercial-scale equipment, meaning formulas must be designed with scalability in mind. Variables like dissolved oxygen, line pressure, and filling temperature all affect carbonation retention and final product quality.
At Sensapure, we help brands integrate these considerations from the start. By aligning carbonation goals with packaging constraints and co-manufacturing capabilities early, we reduce costly reformulations and streamline the path from bench to shelf.
Even the best product must make business sense. Every beverage project is a balanced act between speed, cost, and quality — and carbonation plays a role in all three.
On one hand, carbonation can reduce acid requirements, improve shelf life without expensive preservatives, and enhance flavor intensity with less sweetener. On the other, it may require specialized filling equipment, pressure-rated containers, or more complex quality control processes.
Sensapure’s helps brands navigate those trade-offs strategically. We collaborate closely with partners to identify where carbonation adds value — and where it may introduce unnecessary complexity. Our goal is always the same: to build products that balance performance, cost, and speed to market.
The functional beverage category is evolving at a breakneck pace. What began as a market dominated by energy drinks and vitamin waters has expanded into a diverse ecosystem of products designed to enhance mental clarity, support gut health, boost immunity, improve recovery, and deliver sustained energy — often all in one. As consumers demand more from every sip, carbonation is proving to be one of the most important tools in unlocking the next wave of beverage innovation.
Carbonation enables new product categories, enhances the delivery of challenging actives, and helps create sensory experiences that feel premium, refreshing, and unforgettable. Below are three of the most exciting frontiers where carbonation is reshaping the future of functional beverages.
For years, protein and carbonation were considered incompatible. Proteins tend to precipitate in acidic environments, and the presence of CO₂ can exacerbate separation and instability. Yet recent advances in ingredient technology — from pre-acidified proteins to clear whey isolates — are rewriting the rules.
“Can you actually make a carbonated protein drink taste good? Yeah, it's very possible,” says Rasmussen. “Protein, especially acidified proteins that we work with, tend to have a flavor profile that's not ideal for making a beverage. And so you have to work really hard to cover it up.... Amazing what some flavor, bitter blockers, and some sweetener will do a beverage.”
Tips for Formulating Acidified Protein Beverages:
The result is an entirely new class of beverages that deliver both refreshment and nutrition. Carbonated protein waters are emerging as a lighter, more approachable alternative to traditional shakes, while sparkling post-workout drinks combine muscle recovery with sensory appeal. Although certain patent restrictions have slowed widespread adoption, those barriers are expected to ease, opening the door to rapid innovation in this space.
The possibilities don’t stop at protein. Hybrid beverages that stack multiple functional benefits — such as energy-plus-protein drinks, carbonated hydration with adaptogens, or sparkling post-biotic recovery blends — are gaining traction. These multifunctional SKUs reflect a broader consumer desire for efficiency: drinks that do more, in fewer steps, without sacrificing taste or experience.
Fermented beverages like kombucha, kefir, and drinking vinegars have seen explosive growth, fueled by consumer interest in gut health, immunity, and natural wellness. Traditionally, these drinks relied on natural fermentation to generate carbonation — a process that can be difficult to control, leading to inconsistencies in flavor, fizziness, and shelf stability.
Introducing controlled carbonation changes the equation. It allows formulators to fine-tune sensory experiences, stabilize flavor, and extend shelf life while still maintaining the authenticity and functional benefits of fermentation.
“Right now I'm looking at products that have kefir and kombucha, things that are typically fermented, but then carbonating it. So just looking at things that aren't typically carbonated and maybe, can that be carbonated?”
—Taylor Rasmussen, High Acid Beverage Lab Manager
Botanical and adaptogenic beverages are another space where carbonation is unlocking new opportunities. Ingredients like ginger, holy basil, rhodiola, and L-theanine can bring strong, earthy, or bitter notes that require careful balancing. Carbonation enhances their aromatic lift and softens bitterness, resulting in drinks that taste brighter, more balanced, and more enjoyable.
These carbonated botanical beverages are also helping functional drinks cross into lifestyle territory. They’re not just supplements in a bottle — they’re craveable, refreshing products people want to drink every day. That shift is critical as brands seek to appeal to mainstream audiences without compromising function.
The trends driving the next era of carbonated functional beverages reflect deeper changes in consumer expectations. Simplicity and transparency are now table stakes. Shoppers want ingredient decks they understand and trust, and they’re gravitating toward brands that deliver clean-label functionality without compromise.
Functionality itself is evolving, too. Consumers are seeking products that provide sustained energy without the jitters of high-dose caffeine, targeted hydration tailored to specific needs, and natural wellness benefits from botanicals and adaptogens. Carbonation helps these products deliver on their promises — enhancing sensory appeal while supporting pH, stability, and active ingredient performance.
Even established categories like hydration are being reimagined. Brands are finding whitespace in “sodium-first” formulations for youth athletes, vinegar-based tonics for electrolyte replenishment, and minimalist beverages with only a handful of ingredients. In each case, carbonation elevates these simple formulas, transforming them into premium, craveable products that stand out on crowded shelves.
Looking forward, carbonation’s role will only expand. We anticipate the rise of sparkling plant-based proteins, effervescent nootropic sodas, and carbonated adaptogen beverages that bridge the gap between wellness and indulgence. As ingredient technologies improve and patents expire, the beverage landscape will become even more fluid — and carbonation will be at the heart of that evolution.
In a category as dynamic — and as complex — as functional beverages, success isn’t just about having a great idea. It’s about knowing how to execute that idea in a way that’s stable, scalable, and irresistible to consumers. And that’s where Sensapure excels.
Our team approaches carbonation holistically, considering its impact across every stage of development — from formulation and sensory design to process engineering and commercialization. We don’t just help brands add bubbles; we help them leverage carbonation as a strategic advantage.
Here’s how we do it:
Perhaps most importantly, we help brands think strategically. We guide founders through critical early decisions — from identifying whitespace opportunities to selecting ingredient technologies and designing for future growth. And we do it all while keeping one goal in focus: creating a product that consumers will reach for again and again.
“There are a lot of beverages out there,” Rasmussen reminds us. “So what makes your beverage different for one, and then can that be produced? Finding a niche that makes sense is really important.”
Whether you’re envisioning a sparkling adaptogen tonic, a carbonated protein water, or a botanical soda that redefines the wellness category, Sensapure is the partner who can help you bring it to life — from concept to shelf.
Carbonation has always been associated with refreshment — but in the world of functional beverages, it’s so much more than that. It’s a formulation powerhouse that shapes flavor, enhances mouthfeel, extends shelf life, and supports ingredient performance. It’s a preservation tool, a sensory amplifier, and a creative enabler. Most importantly, it’s a strategic lever that can transform how consumers experience functional products.
The brands that succeed in this space will be those that think beyond the bubbles. They’ll see carbonation not as a decorative feature, but as a foundational part of product design. They’ll use it to solve complex formulation challenges, differentiate their products, and create beverages that are not only functional but also deeply enjoyable.
At Sensapure, we’re committed to helping those brands lead the way. Our team blends science and creativity to turn bold ideas into shelf-ready realities. Whether it’s balancing pH in a high-acid environment, stabilizing proteins in a sparkling format, or elevating botanical actives into something craveable, we understand how to make carbonation work for your product — not against it.
The future of functional beverages is sparkling — and not just in the literal sense. As consumer expectations evolve and ingredient technologies advance, carbonation will continue to unlock new possibilities and new product categories. The brands that embrace their full potential will define the next generation of functional drinks. And with Sensapure as your partner, those possibilities are closer than ever.
Carbonation adds more than bubbles — it can influence acidity, flavor perception, and dissolved oxygen management, all of which contribute to beverage stability and consumer experience.
Acid balance remains essential — while CO₂ and flavor systems can fine-tune perceived tartness, verified pH control (typically ≤ 4.1–4.6) is still the backbone of product safety.
Protein and carbonation compatibility are improving thanks to advancements in ingredient technology, formulation techniques, and bitterness-masking systems.
Flavor masking and modulation are critical in acidified and protein-rich systems, with targeted solutions available to offset bitterness or astringency without dulling character.
Process and packaging integration — optimal results come from managing carbonation, pH, oxygen, and fill conditions together rather than treating them as isolated steps.
Innovation is accelerating — emerging processing methods, cleaner acid sources, and flavor technologies are expanding what’s possible in functional and sparkling formulations.
1 D. H. Passe, M. Horn, and R. Murray, “The Effects of Beverage Carbonation on Sensory Responses and Voluntary Fluid Intake following Exercise,” International Journal of Sport Nutrition 7, no. 4 (December 1997): 286–97, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9407255/.
2 P. M. Wise, M. Wolf, S. R. Thom, and B. Bryant, “The Influence of Bubbles on the Perception Carbonation Bite,” PLoS ONE 8, no. 8 (August 2013): e71488, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256291926_The_Influence_of_Bubbles_on_the_Perception_Carbonation_Bite.
3 James A. Daniels, Rajagopalan Krishnamurthi, and Syed S. H. Rizvi, “A Review of Effects of Carbon Dioxide on Microbial Growth and Food Quality,” Journal of Food Protection 48, no. 6 (June 1985): 532–537, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30943590/.
Request free flavor samples from our 1300+ existing flavors, or request a custom-made flavor for your next project!
.avif)
