A website claims that it has uncovered that secret of coca cola. The top secret recipe of one of the world's most popular beverages, Coca Cola, which was kept locked in a steel vault in Atlanta city and guarded 24-hours a day, has now been leaked by a website.
The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at the Eagle Drug and Chemical Company, a drugstore in Columbus, Georgia by John Pemberton, originally as a coca wine called Pemberton's French Wine Coca.
The only official written copy is supposedly held in SunTrust Bank's vault in Atlanta and only two company employees at any one time are said to know the whole formula that gives the fizzy drink its distinctive flavour.
Coca-Cola Co said on Tuesday that its flagship cola recipe is still secret after nearly 125 years, denying a story by a public radio show that it has uncovered the formula.
"Many third parties, including 'This American Life,' have tried to crack our secret formula. Try as they might, they've been unsuccessful because there is only one 'Real Thing,'" said Coca-Cola spokeswoman Kerry Tressler.
"This American Life," a weekly radio program, said it found the closely guarded formula in an article in Coke's hometown newspaper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, from February 1979.
A photo that appeared with the article shows pages from a notebook with a handwritten list of ingredients such as sugar, lime juice, vanilla and caramel. It also lists oils of cinnamon, neroli, coriander, nutmeg, lemon and orange.
The show, produced by WBEZ Chicago and distributed by Public Radio International, claims the notebook originally belonged to a friend of John Pemberton, the pharmacist who created Coca-Cola in 1886.
The book passed through various hands and eventually landed with Georgia pharmacist Everett Beal, who was an acquaintance of the newspaper writer, according to Beal's widow, who was interviewed by "This American Life" host Ira Glass.
Coke, the world's largest soft drink maker, denied that the formula is the same as the one for its cola, which is kept in an Atlanta bank vault.
Do you know what the coca in coca cola stands or rather stood for? Cocaine! Yes! And I am not kidding! when this drink first came out in the 19th century cocaine was a legally allowed substance and it was added to this drink to give you a 'kick' if you know what i mean! another reason it was added was for its habit forming properties as once this drink became a habit for you the more and more you buy it! later in early 20th century cocaine was banned and they started using other legally allowed habit inducing cum stimulating substances such as Caffeine which till date every cola company insists is being added for 'taste' as it seems caffeine gives a special taste when added to cola but unofficially its well known its added as its habit forming! till date caffeine is added to colas as its not banned in most countries!
one more thing the original cola was actually a grape juice to which they added cocaine and a bit of coffee and chocolate along with sugar caffeine later they changed the formula to something else which doesnt taste anything like its today!.
Secret recipes
Recipe 1
This recipe is attributed to a sheet of paper found in an old formulary book owned by Coca-Cola inventor, John S. Pemberton, just before his death (U.S. measures):
Ingredients:
o 1 oz caffeine citrate
o 3 oz citric acid
o 1 fl oz extract vanilla
o 1 qt lime juice
o 2½ oz flavoring
o 30 lb (14 kg) sugar
o 4 fl oz fluid extract of coca (decocainized flavor essence of the coca leaf)
o 2½ gal water
o Caramel sufficient
Flavoring:
o 80 Oil orange
o 40 Oil cinnamon
o 120 Oil lemon
o 20 Oil coriander
o 40 Oil nutmeg
o 40 Oil neroli
o 1 qt alcohol
Directions:
o "Mix caffeine acid and lime juice in 1 quart boiling water add vanilla and flavoring when cool. Let stand for 24 hours."
This recipe does not specify when sugar, coca, caramel or the rest of the water are added.
Source: Mark Pendergrast. For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It. New York: Basic Books, 2000. ISBN 0-465-05468-4.
Recipe 2
This recipe is attributed to pharmacist John Reed.
* 30 pounds (14 kg) of sugar
* 2 US gallons of water
* 1 quart of lime juice
* 4 ounces of citrate of caffeine
* 2 US fluid ounces of citric acid
* 1 ounce of extract of vanilla
* 6 grams (3/4 US fluid ounce) of fluid extract of coca
Recipe 3
This recipe is from Food Flavorings: Composition, Manufacture and Use (2nd Ed.) 1968 by Joseph Merory (AVI Publishing Company, Inc., Westport, CT). Makes one U.S. gallon (3.8 L) of syrup. Yield (used to flavor carbonated water at 1 fl oz per bottle): 128 bottles, 6.5 fl oz (192 ml).
* Mix 2,400 grams of sugar with just enough water to dissolve (high-fructose corn syrup may be substituted for half the sugar).
* Add 37 grams of caramel, 3.1 grams of caffeine, and 11 grams of phosphoric acid.
* Extract the cocaine from 1.1 grams of coca leaf (Truxillo growth of coca preferred) with toluol;dry the cocaine extract.
* Soak the coca leaves and kola nuts (both finely powdered; 0.37 gram of kola nuts) in 22 grams of 20 percent alcohol.
* California white wine fortified to 20 percent strength was used as the soaking solution circa 1909, but Coca-Cola may have switched to a simple water/alcohol mixture.
* After soaking, discard the coca and kola and add the liquid to the syrup.
* Add 30 grams of lime juice (a former ingredient, evidently, that Coca-Cola now denies) or a substitute such as a water solution of citric acid and sodium citrate at lime-juice strength.
* Mix together 0.88 gram of lemon oil, 0.47 gram of orange oil, 0.20 gram of cassia (Chinese cinnamon) oil. 0.07 gram of nutmeg oil, and, if desired, traces of coriander, lavender, and neroli oils, and add to 4.9 grams of 95 percent alcohol.
* Shake.
* Add 2.7 grams of water to the alcohol/oil mixture and let stand for twenty-four hours at about 60 °F (15.5 °C). A cloudy layer will separate.
* Take off the clear part of the liquid only and add the syrup.
* Add 19 grams of glycerine (from vegetable source, not hog fat, so the drink can be sold to Jews and Muslims who observe their respective religion's dietary restrictions) and 1.5 grams of vanilla extract.
* Add water (treated with chlorine) to make 1 gallon of syrup.
One should be aware that today, Coca-Cola production employees do not dry the cocaine extract as listed above. Quoting from Early Years of Coca-Cola: "... the coca leaves used today are "spent" leaves - the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process - and therefore the drink contains no trace of the stimulant." However, it is impossible to completely remove all traces of the coca stimulant and small amounts still exist in the drink today.
Source