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Album of the different gifs detailing this situation: Album of coke-coffee related gifs

I thought that the answer would be similar to the ice-cream float situation, but I don't see what in the coffee would cause the soda to float.

Could it be some reaction with the coffee oils and the coke?

this is before: one cold can of coke and a freshly brewed nespresso americano (6 shots of espresso with about 5 oz of hot water)

Above is a shot of my materials:

  • Can of Coke Zero (ingredients: Carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, aspartame, potassium benzoate, natural flavors, potassium citrate, acesulfame potatssium, caffeine)
  • Nespresso coffee (ingredients: Roast and ground coffee, hot water)

after the coffee cooled Above is after the coffee cooled.

Experiments:

Here is a link to a gif of me pouring the coffee: Gif of me pouring coke into the coffee

To address one of the comments, here is a gif of me pouring coke into an empty bottle: Gif of me pouring coke into an empty bottle, comparison

To address another comment, link to me pouring coke into a mug of tea (instead of coffee): Gif of me pouring coke into a mug of tea

Nonsingular
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    Doesn't coke fizz when you add it do just about anything else, be it pure water or an empty glass? – Ivan Neretin Jan 30 '19 at 17:22
  • I should try it; it looks foamier than usual. I can add a pic when I do it again. – Nonsingular Jan 30 '19 at 17:23
  • I have to wait for the coffee to cool off. I'm going to put it in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes – Nonsingular Jan 30 '19 at 17:33
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    Actually, I've heard there are some recipes among the students to prepare some sort of a wake-up cocktail with various ratios of both drinks, and the key factor is to get as much foam as possible, which, according to the myth, is what gives the caffeine kick. I can confirm that foam on the surface of the cola-coffee mix is denser and more stable and there is more of it. Interesting question:) – andselisk Jan 30 '19 at 18:30
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    Coffee is inhomogeneous - reasons for "more fizz" are exactly the same as in adding mentos, ice-cream of pretty much whatever else. – Mithoron Jan 30 '19 at 19:09
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    @Mithoron I think you are on the right track. Even if you don't add anything but just shake the coke before opening the can, the bubbles on the side of the can act as nucleation sites. Maybe the coffee has some solids in it or some oils that can act as nucleation sites. The equilibrium of coke is on the side of flat, i.e. carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rather than in the solution, and foaming is a kinetic phenomenon. – Karsten Jan 30 '19 at 20:51
  • @Mithoron here's a link to me adding coke to tea: Celestial Mandarin Orange spice using a Keurig https://imgur.com/G4Ef88W – Nonsingular Feb 04 '19 at 14:57
  • @IvanNeretin please look at the following gif of me pouring coffee into tea: https://imgur.com/G4Ef88W – Nonsingular Feb 04 '19 at 15:06
  • @Mithoron I'm finding that just doing a google search on "is coffee a homgeneous mixture" yields results saying that it is a homogeneous mixture. What do you mean by inhomogeneous? – Nonsingular Feb 04 '19 at 15:23
  • @Nonsingular Exactly what it means. Even instant coffee leaves some solid particles behind and even colloidal particles can act as nucleation sites. – Mithoron Feb 04 '19 at 17:21

2 Answers2

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There are two likely contributing factors here. What you're seeing is rapid release of carbon dioxide from solution, indicating that its solubility has decreased and that the rate of re-equilibrating to that new lower solubility is quite fast. The solubility of carbon dioxide is a factor of

1) the partial pressure of CO2 in the air above the liquid (higher pressure forces more into solution),

2) the pH of the liquid (because higher pH leads to formation of more $\ce{HCO3-}$ and $\ce{CO3^2-}$ thus increasing the total CO2-related species in solution), and

3) temperature of the solution (like most gases, CO2 decreases in solubility as temp increases).

In your case, (1) and (3) are probably most important. [EDIT: I overlooked that the coffee was cold, so (3) is actually not likely to be relevant] The can before opening is pressurized with a high CO2 atmosphere, so it is overloaded with CO2 relative to just about any ambient condition. In order to equilibrate with ambient conditions, it needs to lose some CO2. On the other hand, you've diluted it into the coffee, so there is a slight offsetting effect there. The coffee is slightly acidic, but is not likely to be very well buffered, and probably is not much different than diluting with water.

In addition to these thermodynamic effects that change the equilibrium dissolved CO2 concentration, there is also the kinetic issue of how quickly the CO2 escapes in order to return to equilibrium. The CO2 can only leave solution at the boundary points where the liquid meets air. The stirring effect of pouring the liquid (even into an empty glass) creates more surface area of the liquid/air boundary and also keeps the CO2 well distributed throughout the solution so that the areas near the boundary are continuously resupplied with CO2 as it is lost to the air.

To determine if coffee specifically has any effect, I would try the same thing with water instead of coffee. I suspect the result will be very similar.

UPDATE based on new data: I was wrong about the coffee itself not being important. The coffee mixture clearly foams more than the tea. There are two possibilities I can think of (not mutually exclusive): 1) the rate of CO2 evolution is greater in coffee. As the other answer postulates, that could be due to faster nucleation by particles in the coffee or, if the pH goes up very quickly, buffering by acids in the coffee once the pH reaches 5 or so (from the Coke starting point ~ pH 2). 2) the same amount of CO2 is released, but the coffee mixture foams more. Studies on sparkling wines such as the one described here indicate that proteins, especially ones with carbohydrates attached, contribute to foaming by acting as surfactants (that means like a detergent molecule, essentially making soap bubbles). It is likely that coffee contains similar molecules. I now think this is the likely explanation, though I also like the idea that there are more nucleation sites from the dissolved solids.

The way to test some of these hypotheses would be to filter the coffee with varying molecular weight cut-off filters, but I suspect you don't have access to that sort of equipment?

Andrew
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  • Hi I appreciate the chemistry you're laying down on me! To note: I cooled my coffee so that at best it was lukewarm. Usually I add coke when my coffee is stone cold and I do see the same effects. – Nonsingular Jan 30 '19 at 18:55
  • I can repeat the experiment above with hot water to address your point. – Nonsingular Jan 30 '19 at 18:55
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    Just use water at whatever temp your coffee usually is in order to see if there's something in the coffee that is having an effect. I just assumed the coffee was hot even though I now see that in your title you said it was cold. I should read more carefully. – Andrew Jan 30 '19 at 20:06
  • I added https://imgur.com/G4Ef88W and https://imgur.com/a/QFasLFg to compare the different solutions – Nonsingular Feb 04 '19 at 15:03
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Coffee contains organic acids, notably 3,4-Dihydroxy-cinnamic acid, in German Kaffeesäure. (same name in English, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeic_acid)

Acids make coke foam, but then coke already is extremely sour, so adding coffee probably doesn't make a difference.

If you leave a cup of coffee overnight, and then slowly pour it in the sink, you will see it contains a lot of small solid particles. Those act as very efficient nucleating agent for bubble formation.

Karl
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    Typically pH of coffee according to this site :https://www.sheltondentistry.com/patient-information/ph-values-common-drinks/ is well above the pH of the coke itself. And the coke has so much carbonation that it is likely much better buffered than the coffee, so adding coffee will have little effect on pH. – Andrew Jan 30 '19 at 20:29
  • @Andrew Yea, coke is sour as hell. I don't agree on the buffering, because I believe it contains a lot more acid than CO2. – Karl Jan 30 '19 at 20:41
  • @Karl I added a gif: https://imgur.com/G4Ef88W showing me pouring coffee into tea. The same argument for nucleation should work, however, experiment shows otherwise – Nonsingular Feb 04 '19 at 15:04
  • @Nonsingular Coffee into tea? That sure tastes disgusting, but what's in there that could foam? :-)) – Karl Feb 04 '19 at 21:25
  • Sorry, that was a typo: it should read "coke into tea" – Nonsingular Feb 04 '19 at 21:42
  • Any other solutions that could help with whether particulates in a solution causes the foam that I'm recording? – Nonsingular Feb 04 '19 at 21:42
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    @Nonsingular Your tea contains a different amount of differently shaped particles, you cannot expect the same effect as with coffee. Also coffee can make a stable foam, caffè crema. Tea not really. – Karl Feb 04 '19 at 21:55
  • You bring up a good point and brings up a few questions. What causes the nice foaming "crema" in espresso? Do other stable foaming solutions provide the same effect as coffee when coke is mixed with it? – Nonsingular Feb 05 '19 at 13:52
  • Coke (or your high pressure espresso machine) delivers the gas for the foam, the oils etc. in coffee are the chemicals that deliver stable walls for the bubbles! – Karl Feb 05 '19 at 17:54