Let me answer as a retired chemistry/biology professor who taught students in several well-known culinary programs for nearly twenty years.

Baking SODA is pure sodium bicarbonate, and contains no aluminum in any form. All baking soda brands should be aluminum-free. Baking POWDER, by contrast, is a mixture of chemical compounds (chemical “salts”) and commonly one of the compounds is aluminum-based. This latter form is the offending ingredient to those people who experience the aluminum as a bitter, unpleasant taste or aftertaste. Simply scrutinize the list of ingredients in baking powder to find one of the several aluminum-free brands.

If an aluminum compound is not the culprit in this instance when using baking soda, it is hard to say what is. One suggestion is to try making a batch of pretzels without using baking soda solution at all, just to be certain that is the source of the unpleasant taste. Another is to try using a different brand of baking soda.

You might perform a little experiment, by making solutions of different brands of baking soda (say 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda completely dissolved in a scant 1/8 cup of warm water) and tasting each for comparison. Baking soda solution should taste salty with a little sweetness and no off-flavors. Good luck!

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