The Simple Soda Tab Trick That Eliminates All That Frustrating Foam

One of the best things about soda (or pop, depending on where you live) is also the element that can make it a pain to navigate — the fizz. The carbonation that gives soda its bubbles can build up into foam, and if a pressurized can of pop isn't hand-dispensed correctly into a glass or cup, that foam can linger. Pouring a can of soda and being met with mushrooming, glass-filling foam can be unappetizing and annoying. There's got to be a better way — and there is. 

There's a basic tab position with a functional purpose that you might not be aware of and it can help control that foamy fizz. After opening the can, leave the tab in the straight-up position. When the can is tilted to pour the soda into a glass, it can balance inside of a glass or cup without tipping over or falling because the metal tab will hold it in place. This allows the soda to pour into the glass in a way that reduces foam and does it without you needing to do a thing.

Soda cans are shaped like cylinders for a good reason, and it turns out that the universal metal tab on top is a valuable tool. The tab forces open the can's seal to allow for drinking straight from the container or pouring into another vessel. Generally, that tab then gets folded back out of the way, removed entirely, or pulled up over onto the opening to act as a straw holder to make sipping even easier. To help make a less foamy serving, utilize this tab trick known for years by soda aficionados. With the can open and the tab sticking straight up, tilt the can to start the pour inside the glass. While holding the can, line up the glass perpendicular to the can, so that the can's opening almost touches the inside of the glass rim. This will provide a narrow channel through which the soda can freely flow.

Then, gently, directly, and quickly — and while holding onto both the cup and the can — set the glass down on a solid surface. Thanks to the metal tab's upright position, it will act as a brace and stabilize the can inside the top of the glass. This allows the soda to steadily pour into the glass at an acute angle that causes the big fluff of initial foam to dissipate quickly but which doesn't permanently kill all of the fizz.

There's some real science into why and how this foam-less trick works so well. When carbonated liquid flows into a glass at an angle, instead of straight down, less of the carbon dioxide responsible for making fizz goes into the glass. It doesn't get trapped in the drinking container, and so it escapes, and then there can't be much of a build-up of foam.

When Instagram user jordan_the_stallion8 made an instructional video in 2023 laying out the tab-based pouring technique, the clip racked up more than 1.3 million likes, with many social media users weighing in on their experience with the tip. Viewer bastian_krabbe pointed out that the hack has been around "since 1999" at least, xxslingindrinksxx wrote that the same effect can be achieved with a tilt of the glass and to "pour it down the side once you get the angle," with no tab positioning necessary. User jacquelineleslie75 attests that the upfront foam reduction ploy works too well, and that in her experience, "it does go flat way faster" due to the loss of carbonation to air.

Nevertheless, this viral trick does usually achieve what it promises — a can of soda that pours itself quickly and without any big initial foamy explosions. And that's all thanks to the humble, already-there tab keeping everything in the right place.