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Novelty plays a part in this too.

So does the amount imbided in a single go.

Sipping tastes different from drinking and gulping. If an 'expert' doesn't know that, and isn't controlling for those variances, then their opinion is not going to be terribly rigorous.

Notably, Pepsi Cola made great use of these types of tricks for their advertising campaign re: "Take the Pepsi Challenge".

Much of taste is more subtle and experiential than many realize.

I can't remember the reference but, from what I remember, the moral of the story from the 'Pepsi Challenge' was to disregard what people say they prefer the taste of and to pay intention instead to what people actually buy.

I took part in a Pepsi challenge at a water park as a kid. I did and still prefer Coke, but the cute girl running the booth would get excited and give me a prize if I picked Pepsi. So not being an idiot I picked Pepsi, if you’ve ever had both it’s extremely easy to tell the difference.

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