Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola (It Took Me A Year)
LabCoatz
10,088,814 views
The Coca Cola secret formula is one of the best kept secrets in recent history...and I hate secrets. So, naturally, I deciphered it with the help of mass spectrometry and created a chemically-identical replica!
Want to help support LabCoatz? Of course you do! Feel free to donate, become a channel member, or join my Patreon using the links below!
@labcoatz_science
Patreon: labcoatz
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/labcoatz
A massive thanks to Vince from @Neptunium and Ben from @MassSpecEverything, their mass spectrometry work is truly what made this video possible! Check out their videos here:
Labcoatz CoCa Cola Analytical Details
Coca Cola Classic - Secret Recipe Collab -...
An additional shoutout to @GlenAndFriendsCooking and @HowToCookThat, who put out excellent videos on making cola, and especially to @Artofdrink, who has several highly educational beverage-related videos, as well as one of the best colas I've tasted!
DIY Squozen Cola Recipe Nailed It!
Discover the Coca Cola recipe secret |...
How to Make Cola, like Coca-Cola or Pepsi
Finally, thanks to @Nighthawkinlight for demonstrating orthogonal (Taguchi) arrays in his video!
Be sure to check out these other videos from people who tried (or at least brought attention to) the recipe:
I Tested the Viral Coca-Cola Recipe: Is It...
Is Coca-Cola's Secret Recipe Cracked?
I Tried Making Homemade Coca Cola | Claire...
CURRENT RECIPE: same as video, but use 10 grams of tannin, 150 grams of glycerin, and 43mL of 85% phosphoric acid. And if you use Durkee caramel color (since Shanks no longer seems to be available), use 185mL instead of 320mL, since it's much stronger.
New warning regarding tea tree oil: this ingredient is not FDA-approved from what I can tell, and can be toxic in high doses, so use at your own risk. That said, it does appear to be GRAS, and the amounts used here are over 5X less than the maximum allowable (10 ppm).
PER LITER OF SODA (VERSION 111C):
104 grams sugar (dissolved in a minimum volume of water)
1mL flavor solution A (alcohol-based)
10mL flavor solution B (water-based)
Top off to 1 liter with cold carbonated water
FLAVOR SOLUTION A: dilute 20mL of the following oil mixture to a volume of 1 liter using food-grade 95% alcohol.
45.8mL lemon oil
36.5mL lime oil
8mL tea tree oil (from Australian tea tree, Melaleuca Alternifolia)
4.5mL cassia cinnamon oil
2.7mL nutmeg oil
1.2mL orange oil (regular sweet orange)
0.7mL coriander oil
0.6mL fenchol (any version of alpha-fenchol should work)
FLAVOR SOLUTION B: dilute the following mixture to a volume of 1 liter using water.
185mL Durkee caramel color
150 grams food-grade vegetable glycerin
43mL 85% phosphoric acid
10 grams wine tannin
9.65 grams caffeine
10mL 5% vinegar
10mL vanilla extract (or a solution containing 0.95 grams per liter of vanillin)
If you like glass bottle "Mexican" Coke, just increase the lime in the final mix. I haven't actually made an effort to replicate glass bottle Coca Cola, but that seems to be basically the only difference.
Here's the research paper I referenced throughout this project:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/...
Regarding the types of essential oils to use, there is not a standard for "food grade" essential oils...as long as the sample is verifiably pure, that's as good as it gets. Brands like NOW and Aura Cacia seem to be reasonable. For the fenchol, different CAS numbers should be suitable as long as the sample is over 90% alpha-fenchol. There are no substitutes for fenchol, and despite what Wikipedia says, basil does not contain a significant amount of it...based on my research, it might have some fenchone or fenchyl acetate, but that's it, and these are minor components. Fenchol has a very distinct, heavily musty, earthy, or moldy smell, with some camphor or mint-like notes in high doses.
WARNING: concentrated phosphoric acid is mildly corrosive and undiluted flavors and essential oils can be irritating or toxic. Never consume, unless properly mixed and diluted to safe levels. Tea tree oil is toxic in high doses (same for a lot of flavors, honestly), but the few microliters used in this cola are well within the limits for beverage use. You will honestly absorb less by drinking this soda than you would by using a tea tree lotion or mouth wash, and as the data shows, it's all chemically the same as Coke!
0:00 Secrets secrets secrets
1:18 A fool's errand...or not?
2:56 What's in Coke?
3:29 Coca (but not cola)
4:10 Flavor basics and early trials
7:17 Mass spectrometry (thanks Vince and Ben!)
9:12 Research papers and key discoveries
11:54 Spreadsheet time
12:20 The missing flavors
13:44 A year of testing
14:23 A BIG discovery...we nailed it
15:27 How to make Coca Cola
17:16 Mixture A: 7X flavor
18:47 Mixture B: water-based ingredients
19:46 Mixing up the cola
21:41 What do other people think?
23:27 Looking forward
20 Comments
24 unrelated bullet holes in back.
Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola (It Took Me A Year)
LabCoatz
10,088,814 views
The Coca Cola secret formula is one of the best kept secrets in recent history...and I hate secrets. So, naturally, I deciphered it with the help of mass spectrometry and created a chemically-identical replica!
Want to help support LabCoatz? Of course you do! Feel free to donate, become a channel member, or join my Patreon using the links below!
@labcoatz_science
Patreon: labcoatz
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/labcoatz
A massive thanks to Vince from @Neptunium and Ben from @MassSpecEverything, their mass spectrometry work is truly what made this video possible! Check out their videos here:
Labcoatz CoCa Cola Analytical Details
Coca Cola Classic - Secret Recipe Collab -...
An additional shoutout to @GlenAndFriendsCooking and @HowToCookThat, who put out excellent videos on making cola, and especially to @Artofdrink, who has several highly educational beverage-related videos, as well as one of the best colas I've tasted!
DIY Squozen Cola Recipe Nailed It!
Discover the Coca Cola recipe secret |...
How to Make Cola, like Coca-Cola or Pepsi
Finally, thanks to @Nighthawkinlight for demonstrating orthogonal (Taguchi) arrays in his video!
Be sure to check out these other videos from people who tried (or at least brought attention to) the recipe:
I Tested the Viral Coca-Cola Recipe: Is It...
Is Coca-Cola's Secret Recipe Cracked?
I Tried Making Homemade Coca Cola | Claire...
CURRENT RECIPE: same as video, but use 10 grams of tannin, 150 grams of glycerin, and 43mL of 85% phosphoric acid. And if you use Durkee caramel color (since Shanks no longer seems to be available), use 185mL instead of 320mL, since it's much stronger.
New warning regarding tea tree oil: this ingredient is not FDA-approved from what I can tell, and can be toxic in high doses, so use at your own risk. That said, it does appear to be GRAS, and the amounts used here are over 5X less than the maximum allowable (10 ppm).
PER LITER OF SODA (VERSION 111C):
104 grams sugar (dissolved in a minimum volume of water)
1mL flavor solution A (alcohol-based)
10mL flavor solution B (water-based)
Top off to 1 liter with cold carbonated water
FLAVOR SOLUTION A: dilute 20mL of the following oil mixture to a volume of 1 liter using food-grade 95% alcohol.
45.8mL lemon oil
36.5mL lime oil
8mL tea tree oil (from Australian tea tree, Melaleuca Alternifolia)
4.5mL cassia cinnamon oil
2.7mL nutmeg oil
1.2mL orange oil (regular sweet orange)
0.7mL coriander oil
0.6mL fenchol (any version of alpha-fenchol should work)
FLAVOR SOLUTION B: dilute the following mixture to a volume of 1 liter using water.
185mL Durkee caramel color
150 grams food-grade vegetable glycerin
43mL 85% phosphoric acid
10 grams wine tannin
9.65 grams caffeine
10mL 5% vinegar
10mL vanilla extract (or a solution containing 0.95 grams per liter of vanillin)
If you like glass bottle "Mexican" Coke, just increase the lime in the final mix. I haven't actually made an effort to replicate glass bottle Coca Cola, but that seems to be basically the only difference.
Here's the research paper I referenced throughout this project:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/...
Regarding the types of essential oils to use, there is not a standard for "food grade" essential oils...as long as the sample is verifiably pure, that's as good as it gets. Brands like NOW and Aura Cacia seem to be reasonable. For the fenchol, different CAS numbers should be suitable as long as the sample is over 90% alpha-fenchol. There are no substitutes for fenchol, and despite what Wikipedia says, basil does not contain a significant amount of it...based on my research, it might have some fenchone or fenchyl acetate, but that's it, and these are minor components. Fenchol has a very distinct, heavily musty, earthy, or moldy smell, with some camphor or mint-like notes in high doses.
WARNING: concentrated phosphoric acid is mildly corrosive and undiluted flavors and essential oils can be irritating or toxic. Never consume, unless properly mixed and diluted to safe levels. Tea tree oil is toxic in high doses (same for a lot of flavors, honestly), but the few microliters used in this cola are well within the limits for beverage use. You will honestly absorb less by drinking this soda than you would by using a tea tree lotion or mouth wash, and as the data shows, it's all chemically the same as Coke!
0:00 Secrets secrets secrets
1:18 A fool's errand...or not?
2:56 What's in Coke?
3:29 Coca (but not cola)
4:10 Flavor basics and early trials
7:17 Mass spectrometry (thanks Vince and Ben!)
9:12 Research papers and key discoveries
11:54 Spreadsheet time
12:20 The missing flavors
13:44 A year of testing
14:23 A BIG discovery...we nailed it
15:27 How to make Coca Cola
17:16 Mixture A: 7X flavor
18:47 Mixture B: water-based ingredients
19:46 Mixing up the cola
21:41 What do other people think?
23:27 Looking forward