YouTube Blogger Claims to Have Revealed Coca-Cola’s “Secret Formula”

YouTube blogger and science communicator Zak Armstrong says he has recreated Coca-Cola as accurately as possible. He shared a detailed video of the experiment on his LabCoatz YouTube channel.

In less than a week, the video gained over 5.3 million views and more than 21,000 comments. Armstrong used laboratory equipment, including mass spectrometers, to analyze the drink by breaking it down into individual chemical compounds.

Based on the data, he spent several months refining the recipe to closely match the original drink. According to him, 99% of Coca-Cola consists of common ingredients such as sugar, phosphoric acid, and caffeine. The key role in flavor is played by a blend of essential oils.

The analysis revealed the presence of alpha-terpinene from citrus fruits, cinnamaldehyde from cinnamon, and compounds typical of nutmeg and coriander. A crucial discovery was wine tannins and purified coca leaf extract, responsible for the drying and mouth-tingling sensation. Armstrong replaced this component with tea tree oil.

He claims the resulting drink is chemically very similar to the original Coca-Cola. The recreated beverage was named “Lab-Cola.” Developing the recipe took nearly a year. In blind taste tests, participants could not distinguish it from the store-bought version, and some even preferred the blogger’s creation.