Two regulars guys from Maine are exploding onto the national media scene for a stunt that would make “Mr. Wizard” proud. Have you seen what happens when they plop Mentos into Diet Coke?
If you tuned into David Letterman’s show Thursday night or Friday’s “Today” show you would have witnessed Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz demonstrate their explosive and entertaining chemistry experiments featuring candy and soda. The pair of Mainers create gigantic geysers by dropping more than 500 Mentos into 100 plus two-liter plastic Diet Coke bottles. The stunt’s physical reaction is explosive… as is the reaction by spectators.
“This has turned into a global phenomenon in a way that was totally unexpected. We expected to tell our friends, who would tell their friends, and then maybe a few weeks later we would start seeing some larger interest. But we never anticipated this,” Grobe said prior to his Letterman appearance.
Not bad for a couple of pals from Buckfield, Maine who became Internet celebrities after they posted a 3-minute video of their homemade Mentos-Diet Coke experiment in early June. (Their website nearly crashed after receiving more than 3.5 million hits.)
Their Mentos-Diet Coke mixing began on a whim eight months ago. “Stephen heard from a friend that if you drop Mentos in soda it makes a fountain. We tried it like so many others have, and said, ‘This is really cool,’” Grobe said. They started with 10 bottles and saw the potential for more. “We knew there were so many more possibilities. We were just scratching the surface,” he said.
Visitors to the pair’s website have called the trick “insane.” Others liken the Mentos-Diet Coke geysers to the ones outside a popular Las Vegas hotel saying, “It’s a hysterical and spectacular mint-powered version of the Bellagio Fountains.” While, the two Mainers don’t recommend kids duplicating their trick indoors they will say that it isn’t “essential to use a Coke product, although diet soda seems to work better than regular soda.” And as a shout out to their native Maine they also add, “Don’t forget Moxie.” (A soft drink that originated in Maine.) “Moxie works very well, as well.”
If you are planning a trip to Maine you can catch Grobe and Voltz during their regular appearances as part of “The Early Evening Show” at the Oddfellow Theater, a 156-seat theater in Buckfield.
Can’t make it to Maine… simply click here to see video of the candy and soda experiment that’s creating a stir at water coolers around the world.