How Far Will the Cork Fly?

A former NASA engineer explains the math behind cork popping

Let's say you're at a New Year's Eve party—or any celebration, really—and you're about to pop open some bubbly. First, you want to make sure you know How To Open a Battle of Champagne Correctly. You'll want the cork to shoot high enough to add flair to the festivities, not misfire and end up with a limp launch.

Thankfully, we've come up with the equation below to ensure the right amount of bang from your bubbly. Just plug in the distance you want the cork to travel (within limits!), and then let the chilled bottle sit at room temperature for the time indicated. Now you're primed for the ultimate party trick.

Here's why: According to a study published in the Journal of Food Engineering, as a chilled bottle of champagne starts to warm up, the pressure inside the vessel intensifies. In geekspeak, this is what's known as an "adiabatic reaction."

Translation: The warmer the bottle, the greater the interior pressure for shooting your wooden wad.

Allowing your Dom to warm up a few degrees will wow your guests in another way too. French research found that champagne served only moderately chilled may be measurably more delicious than bubbly poured at a colder level, merely a few minutes out of the fridge.

That's because warmer temperatures stimulate more effervescence. And extra fizz means extra flavor, as the bursting bubbles inside the glass give champagne more body and aroma.

Not in the mood for arithmetic? Consider 130 minutes of warming time your scientific sweet spot. That's how long refrigerator-chilled champagne takes to reach 64°F and yield 14 percent more bubbles. Cork distance: 70 feet.

For our tests, all bottles were held aloft at 45 degrees. That angle provides the optimum height and hang time to achieve maximum trajectory. Without spilling, of course.

Tests were performed with unshaken bottles. Equation works best for distances between 30 and 80 feet.

And for more unconventional booze ideas, learn How to Deliver a Knockout Punch (a Caribbean-inspired drink, not blunt trauma to somebody's face) from MMA champion Chuck Liddell

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