Does hanging a spoon in an open bottle of champagne really help keep it carbonated?

One day, I went into the fridge and notice that someone stuck a spoon, handle first, into an open bottle of prosecco from the night before. "What? Why would someone do that?", I say laughing to myself. I close the fridge, and try to move on with my day, but just as the spoon was dangling in the prosecco bottle, the question of why it was, was dangling in my mind. After a little inquiring, I found out that my girlfriend put it in there, that sneaky spoon dangler. She said that it was something that she has always done, and that she had been told that it would help keep the prosecco carbonated for longer. After shortly thinking that there was no way the spoon was creating any kind of seal on the bottle, I immediately called shenanigans on it and decided to one day look into this claim for myself. Does putting a spoon in an open bottle of prosecco really help keep it carbonated?

After a quick Internet search, I found that this popular claim was not just for prosecco, but also for other sparkling wines, and mainly champagne. Many sources claimed that the spoon did not help, however there were some articles that claimed that it did. Logically I would think that the spoon could not possibly help keep any of these liquids stay carbonated, since it does not come close to sealing the bottle, but I did a little bit more digging into the matter, in order to come to my own conclusion.

First let's see what is going on inside carbonated drinks:

Carbonated drinks are beverages that contain dissolved carbon dioxide. Some examples of them are soft drinks, carbonated water, beer, champagne, and prosecco. Liquids can be carbonated through natural processes, such when yeast ferments sugars in a sealed environment when making alcohol, as well as through artificial processes, such as when carbon dioxide is dissolved into water or soft drink mixtures under high pressures using machinery.

Gases are more soluble at lower temperatures. "The physical reason for this is that when most gases dissolve in solution, the process is exothermic. This means that heat is released as the gas dissolves. This is very similar to the reason that vapor pressure increases with temperature. Increased temperature causes an increase in kinetic energy. The higher kinetic energy causes more motion in the gas molecules which break intermolecular bonds and escape from solution" [2]. For the case of carbonated drinks, this means that more carbon dioxide gas is able to dissolve into the liquid as the temperature decreases. This means that the carbonated drink will be more "bubbly" when it is colder. Unfortunately, you cannot simply just freeze your drinks. Once the water in the drinks freezes, it can no longer "hold" the carbon dioxide gas, releasing it into its container, which builds up extremely high pressures. The containers, or bottles, are then likely to burst.

The pressure in an unopened bottle of champagne can range from 4 to 6 atm [3]. Thats a lot of pressure and the reason why champagne bottles are so thick, and why you have to uncork them with caution. Once opened, the carbon dioxide gas that was "above" the liquid in the bottle, is immediately released. The pressure "holding" the dissolved carbon dioxide in the liquid is now gone, meaning that it will now slowly leave the liquid, and the champagne will eventually go "flat". If a bottle of champagne is re-sealed after being opened, there will not be enough carbon dioxide left inside, in order to build up enough pressure in the bottle to keep it from "leaving" the liquid.

Now let's examine some sources claiming that hanging a spoon in an open bottle of prosecco or champagne does help keep it carbonated:

• An article posted on bubblysideoflife.com [4], claims that the spoon does help keep champagne carbonated, because it cools the air in the bottle further, creating a "blanket" over the surface of the liquid, which in turn helps keep it more carbonated. This may sound possible to some, however it is a common misconception that metal objects seem to get colder or hotter than other objects in the same environment. People often claim this after physically touching the metal object, however the metal feeling colder or hotter is misleading because metals are very good thermal conductors. They are very efficient at conducting heat, which in this case would make a metal spoon in a refrigerator feel colder than it actually is. The YouTube channel Veritasium did a great video explaining this phenomenon [5]. Since the metal spoon hanging in the open air of the champagne bottle will come to thermal equilibrium with the surrounding air in the bottle, they will come to the same temperature, thus not cooling the air further in the bottle. This article's "blanket" theory is therefore not possible. With that and the fact that this website is also pretty biased because they sell champagne spoons, this article's claims that the spoon does help keep champagne carbonated, are false and can be dismissed.

• The next article I found supporting the claim that putting a spoon in an open bottle of prosecco does help keep it carbonated, was on huffpost.com [6]. The authors did an experiment using two bottles of prosecco. One bottle was left completely open, while the other was left open with a spoon hanging in it. There are video results of them pouring out the prosecco into glasses, in order to show their level of carbonation. Their conclusion was that the bottle left open with the spoon in it, was "more fizzy" than the bottle left open without, however they noted that the difference was marginal. I am very sceptical about their results, since they are based on a visual interpretation of their pour and a taste test. In my experience the way carbonated liquids are poured very much effects how many "bubbles" you get in your glass. A taste test is also not a very scientific testing method. For these two reasons I would also dismiss this article's claims.

Finally, let's examine some sources claiming that hanging a spoon in an open bottle of prosecco or champagne does not help keep it carbonated:

• The earliest and best study I could find on this subject was a French study titled Le mythe de la petite cuillére, roughly translated "the myth of the spoon", published in Le Vigneron Champenois in 1994 [7]. Unfortunately, I can not read French, and the only version of this study I could find was a PDF photocopy, which is not very translation friendly. So I took a chance, and relied on another publication exploring the same question, to see what this study is about [8]. The researchers in the study assessed how the level of carbonation was affected in champagne bottles by comparing the change in pressure, weight loss, and taste, of opened bottles, with 500 mL and 250 mL left in them, stored at 12 °C. The bottles were either left completely open, left with a silver teaspoon hanging in them, left with a stainless steel teaspoon hanging in them, re-sealed with a cork stopper, or re-sealed with a crimped metal lid type seal. Their pressure test showed that the open bottles and the bottles with teaspoons hanging in them showed significant pressure drops, compared to the bottles which were re-sealed. Their weight test, unsurprisingly, showed significant weight loss in the open bottles and the bottles with teaspoons hanging in them, while the re-sealed bottles showed no weight loss. Finally, their taste test showed that all bottles showed characteristics of oxidation, since they were opened and exposed to the atmosphere, however the bottles that were re-sealed scored higher in taste tests than the open bottles and the bottles with teaspoons hanging in them. Their weight loss and pressure tests seemed like good scientific approaches to the question. Although the taste tests were done with experts, I take the results with a grain of salt, since the method is not very scientific.

• Next, I found research done at Stanford University in an article called champagne bubble myth burst: Forget the silver spoon, also from 1994 [9]. The research team had "an informal team of taste testers", comprised of the some of the researcher's spouses and colleagues, to score ten bottles of champagne, which were either left completely open for 26 hours, left with a silver teaspoon hanging in them for 26 hours, left with a stainless steel teaspoon hanging in them for 26 hours, or opened and immediately re-corked over night. Their team of taste testers came to the conclusion that the bottles with teaspoons hanging in them did not help in maintaining carbonation. Interestingly, the team gave the worst taste score to the re-corked bottles, compared to all others, and the team also gave the best average taste test score to the champagne bottles left completely open, even compared to freshly opened champagne. Since they only performed a taste test, and since their taste test team was not compromised of professionals (maybe evident in their interesting results), I think this study can be dismissed.

• I also found a study done in the Netherlands, in 1995, called Does a Metal Spoon improve the Quality of Left-over Sparking Wine? [10]. These cut-rate researchers cheaped out and used beer and cider, instead of champagne in their experiment, claiming the cider's physical properties are similar enough to those of champagne. They used two bottles for the experiment, one left completely open and one left with a silver teaspoon dangling in it. They left the bottles of cider at 7 °C, 50 % full, for sixteen and a half hours, then had an expert panel do a taste test on them. Their panel found no significant difference in taste, between the two samples. In my opinion this study is lacking in quality. They did use experts for their taste test, however I question how they could afford experts if they could not afford champagne. Since they only did a taste test, and since the study was not very well done in my opinion, I think it can be dismissed too.

• Finally, the TV Show Mythbusters, also performed an experiment in their 2004 episode Viewers Choice Christmas Special [11] [12]. Their experiment tested to see if hanging a silver spoon in an open bottle of champagne would keep it more carbonated than any other method. They used four bottles of champagne, and left them overnight in the refrigerator. One uncorked, one left completely open, one left with a silver teaspoon hanging in it, and one opened and immediately re-sealed with the cork. Their taste test concluded that the bottle left with a silver teaspoon hanging in it was "the least bubbliest". They also both interestingly concluded that the unopened bottle was "not as fizzy" as the re-corked bottle. Again, they unfortunately only performed a taste test, which is not very scientific, and they are not exactly expert taste testers (again, maybe evident in their interesting results). I think I can also dismiss these results.

My Conclusion

Before digging further into the matter, I was sceptical about the idea that a spoon hanging inside a bottle of champagne or prosecco could somehow help keep it carbonated. I based my scepticism on the fact that a spoon could definitely not seal the bottle in any way to prevent carbon dioxide gas from escaping.

Reading and learning a little bit more about how carbonation works, and what happens when a bottle of champagne is opened, gave me much more confidence that my original hypothesis was correct.

The sources that I found, which supported the claim that a spoon does help keep champagne carbonated for longer, were either not based on accurate science, or their experiments were not very well done. Surprisingly, out of all of the sources found, including those which claimed that hanging a spoon in an open bottle of prosecco or champagne does not help keep it carbonated, only one was done well and could be taken seriously. The French study Le mythe de la petite cuillére [7], was the only study not completely based on a taste test, and used logical testing methods, such as measuring the pressure in the bottles over time. To me this study supported the hypothesis that hanging a spoon in an open bottle of prosecco or champagne does not help keep it carbonated.

Ending the research into this topic here, I am now very confident that hanging a spoon in an open bottle of champagne, or sparkling wine, or prosecco, does not help keep it carbonated. I will only ever partake in this weird tradition to mess with people by hanging other funny things in champagne or prosecco bottles.

So, what is the best way to enjoy your champagne with as high of a carbonation level as possible?

Since champagne will be able to hold more carbon dioxide at lower temperatures, but allowing the champagne to freeze would release the carbon dioxide from the champagne, it would be best to store the champagne in a cold environment, set to a temperature just above when it will start to freeze. This temperature will depend mostly on the alcohol content of your champagne. To simplify, if we base our freezing point on how a mixture of only ethanol and water behaves, and if we assume our champagne's alcohol content is 12.5 %, its freezing point should be at about -5 °C [13].

Once you open your champagne, try to commit to drinking the whole bottle in one sitting, so that no storage is necessary. If storage is necessary, re-seal the bottle and store it in a cold environment as described above. This will at least slow the process of the carbon dioxide gas leaving the liquid, compared to if you store the bottle without re-sealing it.

If you are really adamant and extreme about keeping your champagne as carbonated as possible after opening it, find or invent some kind of device to re-seal your bottle and re-pressurize it with carbon dioxide gas so that the champagne becomes saturated with carbon dioxide again.

Cheers!

Sources

[1] freeimages.com. “Free Champagne Gold Stock Photo,” www.freeimages.com, www.freeimages.com/photo/champagne-gold-1535820. Accessed 2 May 2022. Uploaded by user “brainloc.”

[2] Florida State University. “Solubility.” Fsu.edu, 2019, www.chem.fsu.edu/chemlab/chm1046course/solubility.html. Accessed 7 May 2022.

[3] Hui, Peter. “Pressure in a Champagne Bottle - the Physics Factbook.” Hypertextbook.com, 2003, hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/PeterHui.shtml. Accessed 8 May 2022.

[4] Sowa, Vicki. “Magic of the Champagne Spoon to Keep Your Bubbly Bubbly | Bubbly Side of Life.” Bubblysideoflife.com, 13 Sept. 2020 bubblysideoflife.com/blog/champagne-spoon-2/. Accessed 2 May 2022.

[5] Veritasium. “Misconceptions about Heat.” YouTube, 29 June 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNGJ0WHXMyE. Accessed 14 Nov. 2021.

[6] Persad, Michelle. “Can a Spoon Really Keep Champagne Fizzy? We Found Out.” HuffPost, 11 Dec. 2015, www.huffpost.com/entry/spoon-champagne_n_5669dbe8e4b080eddf578141. Accessed 2 May 2022.

[7] Valade, Michel, et al. Le Mythe de La Petite Cuillére. Le Vigneron Champenois, Dec. 1994, cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1877/Valade_et_al.pdf?1638229505. Accessed 2 May 2022.

[8] The Conversation. “No, Putting a Spoon in an Open Bottle of Champagne Doesn’t Keep It Bubbly — but There Is a Better Way.” The Indian Express, 3 Jan. 2022, indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/food-wine/no-putting-a-spoon-in-an-open-bottle-of-champagne-doesnt-keep-it-bubbly-but-there-is-a-better-way-7699829/. Accessed 2 May 2022

[9] “Champagne Bubble Myth Burst: Forget the Silver Spoon.” News.stanford.edu, Stanford University News Service, 21 Dec. 1994, news.stanford.edu/pr/94/941221Arc4008.html. Accessed 2 May 2022.

[10] Jan von Oldenborgh, Geert, and Fernando L. J. Vos. “Does a Metal Spoon Improve the Quality of Left-over Sparkling Wine?” 1995. https://www.lorentz.leidenuniv.nl/lunchcalc/spoon/spoon.pdf

[11] Farrell, Andrew, et al. “Viewers Choice Christmas Special.” IMDb, 22 Dec. 2004, www.imdb.com/title/tt0768466/. Accessed 2 May 2022.

[12] Farrell, Andrew, et al. “Viewers Choice Christmas Special.” SpoonInChampagne Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdHDtx71PhA. Accessed 2 May 2022.

[13] H, Lee. “Q & A: Freezing Wine | Department of Physics | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.” Van.physics.illinois.edu, 8 Sept. 2011, van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=1640&t=freezing-wine. Accessed 9 May 2022. Follow-Up #3: Freezing point of Everclear alcohol-water mix.

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