Reasons for opaque drinking glasses with dark colored interiors?

[gd1]

What are some good reasons for opaque drinking glasses with dark colored interiors? I mean, you can't see if there's anything in your semi-transparent liquids as easily even under good lighting conditions. Just one of the many questions about life.

[Angua]

Changes the taste?

[gd1]

Changes the taste?

I guess if it affects soda or other beverages that makes sense.

EDIT: I mean it makes sense either way, but I was thinking more along the lines of coffee cup sort of situations.

[PAstrychef]

The main reason is aesthetics. People like the way they look.

[Angua]

TBH I just wanted an excuse to post an interesting study. I didn't think that changing the taste was the actual reason

[PAstrychef]

And there is evidence that what you are hearing can change the way foods taste.

[Quercus]

EDIT: I mean it makes sense either way, but I was thinking more along the lines of coffee cup sort of situations.

As someone who has done a lot of washing up by hand in a hard water area I can tell you one good reason for them - they save a lot of time which would otherwise be spent trying to scrub off coffee/tea stains with acid and abrasives.

[Ranbot]

Agreed with aesthetics.

Tradition may be a factor. Widespread and affordable glass is a relatively new advancement relative to the span of human civilization using drinking vessels, and plenty of traditions pre-date use of glass.

For beer specifically, opaque vessels can protect beer from getting light-struck (aka skunked). Brewers and beer drinkers have been aware of the problem of beer being exposed to sunlight for hundreds of years (Corona has forgotten ), even if they didn't understand the chemical reactions occuring. Therefore many beer-drinking traditions/cultures continued to favor opaque beer vessels over clear glass, long after glass use became widespread. EDIT: Remember prior to modern sanitation and drinking water advancements in the mid to late 1800s, people drank beer instead of water and those beer traditions were and still are deeply ingrained in society.

Spoiler:

When UV/sun light hits hop oil compounds, a chemical reaction is triggered that forms compounds very similar to skunk spray. It's why most beer bottles are brown, and why green or clear bottles are prone to being skunked. The reaction can occur very rapidly too. If you want to test it out... on a sunny day, get a hoppy beer (e.g. IPA, pale ale), pour a couple ounces into a clear glass, leave it the sun for 5-10 minutes, then smell it. You should detect a skunk-like odor. The reaction occurs with less hoppy beers too, but is more subtle.