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The guy on YouTube who just recreated the formula of Coca-Cola with HPLC & etc should take a crack at it Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola (It Took Me A Year) by

by pogue 9mo ago

The guy on YouTube who just recreated the formula of Coca-Cola with HPLC & etc should take a crack at it Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola (It Took Me A Year) by LabCoatz https://youtu.be/TDkH3EbWTYc https://youtu.be/TDkH3EbWTYc

xeonmc 9mo ago
Instructions unclear. Taste-tested WD40.
- guerrilla 9mo ago
  It smells so fucking good though, don't you think? You almost want to taste it.
- hahahahhaah 9mo ago
  No that was the Pepsi
cryptoz 9mo ago
The title is clickbait though, he admits near the end it is not in fact a perfect replication. I could feel this of course, long before even starting to watch it. Still, upsetting because otherwise it’s an entertaining video.
- pogue 9mo ago
  The main ingredient he is missing is coca leaf. I used to buy Mate de Coca tea from Peru/Boliva no problem. It's a decocanized coca leaf tea. Shame he didn't hunt around or try harder to get it.
  - capitainenemo 9mo ago
    He said his first order of decocanised cocoa leaf was seized at the border. I can see that discouraging trying again, esp when he's trying to make something others could reproduce. He did find a pretty good substitute for the primary cocoa leaf ingredient though. Also, what he made was virtually indistinguishable in the taste tests. One person said that his tasted closer to the 2L of coke than the can of coke did, which suggests the final bit could just be carbonation level of the soda stream.
    - Spooky23 9mo ago
      That was our theory in the office when we taste tested the various cokes. The favorite by far was kosher for Passover coke. At first we thought it was the sugar vs. HFCS, but bottled Mexican coke didn’t fare as well — blind most people thought Coke Zero (which is my favorite coke) was Mexican Coke. My theory was that the carbonation was perfect and the product was fresher, as the bottler requires rabbinical supervision and they probably make it for a limited run.
      - gorkish 9mo ago
        There is essentially zero chemical difference whatsoever in sugar vs corn syrup coke. sucrose disassociates in the presence of an acid into glucose+fructose simple sugars. Just being carbonated will disassociate the sucrose.
        JumpCrisscross 9mo ago
        > sucrose disassociates in the presence of an acid into glucose+fructose simple sugars Which tastes different from pure fructose. If you want to taste them side by side, you can absolutely tell the difference. (If you've done any endurance sports, you know what I mean.) Once digested I agree that the health effects are suspect. But tastewise, fructose, sucrose and glucose are distinct.
        nkurz 9mo ago
        I'm confused by your reply. GP's point is that they both dissociate into simple sugars, and thus it doesn't matter what the source is. And your response says correctly that sucrose tastes different than both fructose and glucose, but I don't see how this contradicts him. There is (practically) no sucrose left. Are you perhaps thinking that "high fructose corn syrup" is predominantly fructose? The name is confusing, but it actually means that it is high in fructose relative to normal corn syrup, not that fructose predominates. HFCS is usually pretty close to 50:50 fructose to glucose, just like sucrose is: How much fructose is in HFCS? The most common forms of HFCS contain either 42 percent or 55 percent fructose, as described in the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 184.1866), and these are referred to in the industry as HFCS 42 and HFCS 55. The rest of the HFCS is glucose and water. HFCS 42 is mainly used in processed foods, cereals, baked goods, and some beverages. HFCS 55 is used primarily in soft drinks. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/high-fructose-corn-syrup-questions-and-answers https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/high-fruct... While you can measure the difference between 55:45 and 50:50, I'm doubtful the taste difference is much.
Tiberium 9mo ago
Coca-cola's "secret formula" is also just marketing.
dang 9mo ago
Discussed here: Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543509 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543509 - Jan 2026 (219 comments)

by pogue 9mo ago

xeonmc 9mo ago

Instructions unclear. Taste-tested WD40.

guerrilla 9mo ago
It smells so fucking good though, don't you think? You almost want to taste it.
hahahahhaah 9mo ago
No that was the Pepsi

cryptoz 9mo ago

The title is clickbait though, he admits near the end it is not in fact a perfect replication. I could feel this of course, long before even starting to watch it. Still, upsetting because otherwise it’s an entertaining video.

pogue 9mo ago
The main ingredient he is missing is coca leaf. I used to buy Mate de Coca tea from Peru/Boliva no problem. It's a decocanized coca leaf tea. Shame he didn't hunt around or try harder to get it.
- capitainenemo 9mo ago
  He said his first order of decocanised cocoa leaf was seized at the border. I can see that discouraging trying again, esp when he's trying to make something others could reproduce. He did find a pretty good substitute for the primary cocoa leaf ingredient though. Also, what he made was virtually indistinguishable in the taste tests. One person said that his tasted closer to the 2L of coke than the can of coke did, which suggests the final bit could just be carbonation level of the soda stream.
  - Spooky23 9mo ago
    That was our theory in the office when we taste tested the various cokes. The favorite by far was kosher for Passover coke. At first we thought it was the sugar vs. HFCS, but bottled Mexican coke didn’t fare as well — blind most people thought Coke Zero (which is my favorite coke) was Mexican Coke. My theory was that the carbonation was perfect and the product was fresher, as the bottler requires rabbinical supervision and they probably make it for a limited run.
    - gorkish 9mo ago
      There is essentially zero chemical difference whatsoever in sugar vs corn syrup coke. sucrose disassociates in the presence of an acid into glucose+fructose simple sugars. Just being carbonated will disassociate the sucrose.
      - JumpCrisscross 9mo ago
        > sucrose disassociates in the presence of an acid into glucose+fructose simple sugars Which tastes different from pure fructose. If you want to taste them side by side, you can absolutely tell the difference. (If you've done any endurance sports, you know what I mean.) Once digested I agree that the health effects are suspect. But tastewise, fructose, sucrose and glucose are distinct.
        nkurz 9mo ago
        I'm confused by your reply. GP's point is that they both dissociate into simple sugars, and thus it doesn't matter what the source is. And your response says correctly that sucrose tastes different than both fructose and glucose, but I don't see how this contradicts him. There is (practically) no sucrose left. Are you perhaps thinking that "high fructose corn syrup" is predominantly fructose? The name is confusing, but it actually means that it is high in fructose relative to normal corn syrup, not that fructose predominates. HFCS is usually pretty close to 50:50 fructose to glucose, just like sucrose is: How much fructose is in HFCS? The most common forms of HFCS contain either 42 percent or 55 percent fructose, as described in the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 184.1866), and these are referred to in the industry as HFCS 42 and HFCS 55. The rest of the HFCS is glucose and water. HFCS 42 is mainly used in processed foods, cereals, baked goods, and some beverages. HFCS 55 is used primarily in soft drinks. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/high-fructose-corn-syrup-questions-and-answers https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/high-fruct... While you can measure the difference between 55:45 and 50:50, I'm doubtful the taste difference is much.

Tiberium 9mo ago

Coca-cola's "secret formula" is also just marketing.

dang 9mo ago

Discussed here: Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543509 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543509 - Jan 2026 (219 comments)