WE'VE GOT THE MASS SPECTRUM OF "LAB-COLA"! (Patreon)

It's been a month or two since I started trying to decipher the Coca Cola secret formula, and after about a hundred different trials, I've finally reached a critical point: a point where everything I make is definitely A TYPE of cola, but not quite Coca Cola...honestly, my biggest success so far has been accidentally replicating Pepsi a few times, lol! Really close to Coca Cola, and possibly mistakable without a side-by-side comparison, but not perfect.

At this point, I'm sure most people would simply call it quits or succumb to the madness of trying to find what they're missing. What did I do? I simply moved on to phase two: mass spectrometry! Specifically, GC-MS, or gas chromatography mass spectrometry...quite the tongue twister. I mailed my best cola off to "Neptunium" along with a sample of every ingredient, and he compared it with real Coca Cola. While I'm still waiting on the ingredient data, I do have this image of my "Lab-Cola's" mass spectrum! According to Vince ("Neptunium"), my sample has a lot of the same peaks...alpha-terpineol, terpine-4-ol, limonene...but the ratios are a bit more like Pepsi, and there are also some peaks like cinnamaldehyde and linalool that aren't as prominent in Coca Cola.

Where do we go from here? Well, the running plan is to wait until all of the ingredients are analyzed, find which need to be increased or decreased, and modify from there...then send the new cola for more testing! Once everything seems as absolutely perfect as we can get it, we'll send the final sample off to Ben Katz: a professor who runs the channel "Mass Spec Everything" and get his final professional opinion. Liquid chromatography (LC-MS) is also coming up, so we'll see what that shows as well!

Also, as a general update, things are looking quite good for the summer: I've got several ideas besides the "Replicating Coca Cola", including a bigger and better "super-caffeine" synthesis...this time, a full pound, and of a different analog that is stronger and safer! And yes, I do plan on selling small samples this time (officially as "collectibles", but I know some people will want to test it). I also have a bunch of old projects to either revive or edit together:

• Making procaine ("Pain Killer from Bug Killer"), and its prequel, "diethylamine from DEET"

• The tornado probe project

• A few old ones, like "Making a POUND of thioacetone (cops called)", telluroacetone, antimony pentachloride, and sodium azide

• High-nitrogen explosives like carbon tetraazide...might collab with Ex&F and have him make silicon tetraazide!

• Oleum and SO3 from a pool chemical

College will be out in a few weeks, so for now, I'll be working on midterms and other less fun stuff. Rest assured though, the quiet season is just about over! As always, stay tuned!