The true colours of fizzy drinks: Stunning pictures taken using a powerful microscope reveal vibrant crystals in a multitude of different patterns




Ever wondered what that fizzy drink looks like up close? Then here is your answer.

Scientists have photographed the vibrant molecules that make up our favourite drinks - and these are the colourful results.

From the kaleidoscopic crystals in an energy drink to perfect pink globules in a milk drink - these are the weird drinks favoured around the world.

Under the microscope these crystals in an energy drink show a colourful mixture of glucose and ascorbic acid

These clear droplets could be raindrops on a window, but they are in fact tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide in a cola soft drink Who would have thought that under the microscope, bubbles of carbondioxide in a traditional brown ale would look so beautiful? Bubbles of carbon dioxide in a traditional brown ale look more like wallpaper from the 1970s

A Belgian chocolate drink looks far more attractive under the micrscope

Each one meticulously photographed by Andrew Syred at his laboratory in Mid Wales.

Andrew said: 'We normally look at bacteria under the microscope, which isn't very colourful.

'These drinks, with all their sweeteners in them, were almost like artworks compared - they were very vibrant.'

Andrew put a drop of each drink - ranging from cola to coffee - onto a slide using a pipette.

Bubbles in a traditional stout viewed under the microscope





Rather than a close up of brown ale as it dries out, this picture resembles a distant sand dune

Walls adorned with circular mirrors? No, a close up of bubbles in a traditional stout, left, and of carbon dioxide in a traditional brown ale, right

He then slid it under his microscope - which is powerful enough to see chemicals not visible with the naked eye.

Andrew added: 'We wanted to look at something under the microscope that you wouldn't normally see that close up.

'It gives you another perspective to that sugar-laden drink you are sipping.

'The crystals and bubbles are no more than a fraction of a millimetre.'

One image shows the psychedelic colours of an instant coffee drink, with pinks and browns intertwining.

These pretty fat globules stained pink in a milk drink are unlikely to put people off the high-calorie drink The crystal on the left is a close up of red wine while they pretty pink picture on the right is an aspartame crystal in a cherryade soft drink



This malted barley milk drink looks far more complex and beautiful under the microscope than not

While an energy burst drink looks more like diamonds spread out on black felt than the make-up of a drink.

A Belgian chocolate drink resembles a mosaic more than a thirst-quenching tipple.

Photomicrographer Andrew said: 'I don't think this will put people off these types of drink because they are so universally popular.'

Perhaps one of the less appealing drinks close up is this fermented ginger beer, which looks more like frogspawn

While this vibrant red image might be more what was expected from the red wine slide, it is in fact from a drop of tea



Both look like satellite images of barren lands, however the picture on the left is of bread-like bacteria (lactobacillus) in a drinking yogurt surrounded by milk proteins, while the one on the right is a close-up of squeezed orange juice

A hot chocolate drink made from cocoa powder and water looks more like a refreshing summer drink that a winter warmer

But pink doesn't necessarily mean fat: This vibrant photo is of instant coffee granules



