Can science recreate the taste of Coca-Cola without knowing its secret recipe?For more than a century, Coca-Cola’s flavour formula has been one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world. While the label lists sugar, caffeine, phosphoric acid, and caramel colouring, the real mystery lies in the tiny one percent known only as “natural flavours.”In this video, we explore how a researcher used chemistry, mass spectrometry, and essential oils to come remarkably close to recreating Coca-Cola’s iconic taste — without using coca leaves or proprietary ingredients.From analysing chemical fingerprints to discovering the role of tannins in the drink’s signature aftertaste, this experiment reveals how flavour is engineered at the molecular level. Taste testers say the result is almost indistinguishable from the original.This is not about cracking Coca-Cola’s official vault — it’s about understanding how science, chemistry, and patience can rebuild one of the world’s most recognisable flavours drop by drop.⚠️ All ingredients discussed are legal and commercially available. Proper safety precautions are essential when handling concentrated chemicals.
00:00What if you could recreate the taste of Coca-Cola in your own kitchen, using nothing but chemistry
00:15and patience? The ingredients listed on a bottle tell only part of the story. A litre of Coke
00:21contains roughly 110 grams of sugar, caffeine, phosphoric acid, and caramel colouring. But
00:28the real mystery lies in the tiny 1% called natural flavours.
00:37For decades, that flavour formula has been one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world.
00:42The drink even uses a special coca leaf extract produced by a single licensed company in the United States.
00:49That extract is not available to the public, which makes copying Coke at home extremely difficult.
00:55One researcher, Mr. Armstrong, decided to crack the puzzle using mass spectrometry.
01:00This test breaks a substance into charged molecules and creates a chemical fingerprint.
01:05By comparing that fingerprint with different essential oils,
01:08he slowly built a recipe that mimicked the real drink without using any coca leaves.
01:13Step one, creating flavour solution.
01:27These oils are mixed in exact proportions.
01:30Just 20 millilitres of this blend is diluted into one litre of 95% ethanol and left to age for at least 24 hours.
01:37The mixture is incredibly concentrated.
01:40One batch can flavour nearly 5000 litres of cola.
01:44Step two, creating flavour.
01:46Solution B tannins turned out to be the missing piece.
02:00These are the same compounds that give tea and red wine their dry, slightly bitter finish.
02:05They do not appear in mass spectrometry, which is why early replicas tasted flat.
02:10Adding tannins finally delivered that cooling, authentic aftertaste.
02:15Step three, making one litre of cola.
02:19One, dissolve 104 grams of sugar in 100 to 200 millilitres of water.
02:25Two, add one milliliter of diluted solution A.
02:30Three, add 10 millilitres of solution B.
02:33Four, heat until almost boiling, then cool completely.
02:37Five, top up to one litre with cold sparkling water.
02:41The result, according to taste testers, is almost indistinguishable from the original drink.
02:47Once the initial ingredients are purchased, each litre costs only a few pennies to produce.
02:52Every ingredient in this recipe is legal and available online, but caution is essential.
02:57Many of the chemicals can be irritating when undiluted, so protective gloves and careful handling are a must.
03:04Science may not have unlocked Coca-Cola's official vault, but it has shown that with the right chemistry, the world's most famous flavour can be recreated drop by drop.
03:13The final part of the recipe is made up by drop.
03:23The end part of the recipe is made up by drop.
03:31The end part of the recipe is made up by drop.
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