January 1, 2013 - Diet Coke and Mentos

For those that have been living under a rock on the dark side of the moon since the Internet was created (and if that's the case...how are you reading this blog?), putting the mint candy Mentos into a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke creates a reaction which results in a geyser.  The fellas on MythBusters say that this is a result of the coarse, porous shell of the Mentos reacting with the chemicals in the Diet Coke, particularly the CO2 and the aspartame...or something like that.  Mint Mentos works the best, as it lacks the smooth coating found on other flavors of Mentos.

Now, I am well aware that this has been attempted numerous times. In fact, over 31,000 results come back when you type "Diet Coke and Mentos" into the search bar on YouTube.  But I have never done it myself.  So, to celebrate the start of this blog, as well as the start of a new year, I thought an eruption was in order.

I know that this kind of activity does not usually appear on bucket lists.  In fact, most of what I plan on doing over the course of this month will seem mundane to many people.  And that's okay, and that's the point of this blog.  I want to find the fun parts of life that I've overlooked or never experienced.  Putting Mentos into Diet Coke was something that was just so cool and so fun looking that I had to try it myself.  And it didn't disappoint.  If you couldn't tell from my childish chuckling, I had a blast...and yes, that pun was very much intended.