Reinventing the Real Thing

How Proof of the Pudding Reimagined the Coke Float

Proof of the Pudding's Vagn Nielsen ensure that everyone at this event had a Coke and a smile!

What happens when one of the world’s most nostalgic beverages meets the spirit of experimentation?

Eighty marketing executives at the Coca-Cola Company found out recently when Atlanta’s Proof of the Pudding, an ECEP member and one of its founding firms, reimagined the classic Coke float through the lens of modern beverage science.

Held within the Beverage Lab at the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, the event drew inspiration from the interactive exhibit space itself, where flavor development and beverage innovation take center stage. The mission was not only to create an engaging non-alcoholic activation for the event, but to develop a concept scalable enough for potential future museum programming.

The result was part dessert, part drink, part theatrical experiment — and entirely Coca-Cola. It was also an award winner. Judges of two culinary awards found the Coke Float Bar hard to resist. It was recognized this year with a CATIE Award presented by the International Caterers Association for Most Innovative Mixology and an Allie Award (an Atlanta-based hospitality award) for Best Culinary Presentation.

For Vagn Nielsen, Founding Chef/Culinary Creator, the challenge wasn't simply creating a float. It was finding a new way to tell an old story.

"There is very little in the food industry that we haven't already done," says Nielsen, who has been with Proof of the Pudding for 42 years. "Our job is to take things people already know, reinvent them, and make them exciting for the next generation."

In doing so he began with the humble Coke float. The idea aligned naturally with Coca-Cola's own history of continual reinvention. Just as the brand has evolved while remaining true to its identity, Nielsen saw the float as an opportunity to reimagine a familiar classic.

In the Coke Float "lab"

Reinventing the Real Thing in the Beverage Lab

While the presentation leaned into experimentation, the foundation remained intentionally simple.

"A Coke float is ice cream and Coca-Cola—that's really about it," Nielsen says. "The challenge was figuring out how to put a spin on it and make something so simple exciting in today's world."

Inspired by research-and-development environments, the beverage station was designed to feel like a playful laboratory. Vintage soda-shop nostalgia met modern culinary presentation with scientific flourishes woven throughout the service design.

Guests moved through what was framed as an “Experiment Protocol: Carbonated Beverage Reaction.”

The vanilla ice cream was artfully displayed in a vintage ice cooler.

Each float began with a chilled glass and a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream served from a vintage Coke bucket. After extensive testing of house-made flavors, vanilla bean was selected as the constant across all offerings — a strategic “Keep It Simple” decision that streamlined service while allowing guests to customize their drinks through creative add-ins.

To accommodate dietary restrictions, a dairy-free almond milk ice cream was also developed and refined to mimic the behavior and mouthfeel of traditional ice cream within the float format.

Liquid “catalysts” included Coca-Cola, Fanta, and a berry-steeped Sprite served from dramatic vessels including inverted decanters and French presses. Guests could then personalize their creations with flavor “enhancements” presented in laboratory-inspired beakers, pipettes, test tubes, and Erlenmeyer flasks.

Additions included items such as passion fruit, cherry, and green apple boba pearls, a reduced Mexican Coke reduction and crème anglaise.

A crowd favorite turned out to be the Mexican Coke reduction. Thanks to its higher sugar content, it created a glossy, intensely flavored drizzle that added richness while visually reinforcing the concept of concentrated flavor development.

The Results

Both the float creation and its theatrical presentation were designed to spark conversation and engagement.

Nielsen views interaction as an essential ingredient of experiential catering. "How do you interact with people? This was a way to talk about what I was doing," he says. "I'm a big believer in telling a story."

Guests enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to build their own creations, transforming a familiar childhood treat into something personal and unexpected.

According to Nielsen, the reaction reinforced an important lesson: "Life doesn't have to be complicated. It can be as simple as a Coke float that we make exciting."

In that sense, the Coke float was more than a beverage. It was proof that even the most familiar formula can become something entirely new when we see it through a different lens.