Do Mentos explode in orange juice?

Mentos, when dropped into certain types of carbonated beverages, including most varieties of cola and orange soda, produce an eruption resembling a water fountain in a phenomenon that goes by various names, including the Diet Coke and Mentos eruption. The eruption consists of a large amount of foam erupting from the liquid very rapidly, up to 10 times the volume of the original liquid, and reaching heights of several feet in some cases, although smaller bottles release correspondingly smaller eruptions. The reaction is highly exothermic, producing enough heat to make the escaping beverage steam.

The reaction is caused by nucleation cavitation. When the Mentos are dropped into soda, surface irregularities on the mints serve as nucleation sites for carbon dioxide dissolved in the soda, allowing it to rapidly escape from the solution. The rapid generation of carbon dioxide gas bubbles quickly produces a foam on the surface that expands and rises very rapidly, entraining more liquid which then breaks up and further foams, creating a chain reaction.

Several attributes of Mentos help them promote this effect. The gum coating and gelatin contained within Mentos candies trap small amounts of air or even dissolved carbon dioxide inside; additionally, the rough texture of the candy's surface further promotes heterogeneous nucleation. Mentos additionally contain Arabic gum, which acts as a surfactant that stabilises the foam, thus preventing it from collapsing into a sticky mass at the bottom of the container. All these factors combine to produce a dramatic effect.