REC: Coca-Cola

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Dylsn

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http://tinyurl.com/4tekkp8


The secret recipe of Coke has been hidden and locked down for 125 years.
But apparently, not anymore. This American Life says they've found the
ingredients that make up the delicious bubbly cola and have revealed it to
our delight.

The story starts with John Pemberton, a Civil War veteran who's credited
with inventing Coca-Cola. His original recipe was written down in a recipe
book of various ointments and medicines that was passed down from
generation to generation.

A photograph of that recipe, from that very recipe book, was taken in the
Feb. 18, 1979, edition of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and only
recently came to light when Ira Glass from This American Life stumbled
upon it. Glass tracked down other people who claimed to have discovered
the recipe as well and though they didn't match up exactly, they were so
strikingly similar that Glass concluded that this recipe was the original.
Here it is:

The recipe:
Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
Citric acid: 3 oz
Caffeine: 1 oz
Sugar: 30 (unclear quantity)
Water: 2.5 gal
Lime juice: 2 pints, 1 quart
Vanilla: 1 oz
Caramel: 1.5 oz or more for color

The secret 7X flavor (use 2 oz of flavor to 5 gals syrup):
Alcohol: 8 oz
Orange oil: 20 drops
Lemon oil: 30 drops
Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
Coriander: 5 drops
Neroli: 10 drops
Cinnamon: 10 drops

Coke has become infamous in guarding their secret recipe with tales of the
recipe being under 24 hour surveillance, Coca-Cola executives only knowing
half the formula or that the two people who know the recipe can never fly
together. It's added to the allure of Coke, for sure, but there's also
some truth to the that. When Asa Candler, an early Coke President, bought
the original formula from Pemberton in 1887, he was so paranoid about
people stealing the recipe that he ordered that the recipe could never be
written down again. He also removed all labels from the ingredient bottles
and went through company mail to see if anyone was snitching.

Truth be told though, it's impossible to fully replicate Coke's recipe
because there's one ingredient only Coca-Cola can get: fluid extract of
coca (which is coca leaves stripped of cocaine). Only one factory can
process those leaves and only Coca-Cola has a special deal with the DEA
that allows them to use it.

--
Peter Lucas
Hobart
Tasmania

"As we weep for what we have lost, and as we grieve for family and friends
and we confront the challenge that is before us, I want us to remember who
we are.

We are Queenslanders.

We're the people that they breed tough, north of the border.

We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again."
 
I'm back. wrote:

The recipe was published in a sort of biography of the Coca Cola
company. I read the biography back about 1998. It's been out for a
long time. In the book it's put simply - If you have a century and many
billions of dollars of marketing you may well be able to build a well
recognized brand using that recipe. After all, someone did exactly that
once before. Anyone have a few billion to spare?
 
John Kuthe wrote in news:e1b20de4-08e6-43e8-9309-
[email protected]:

years.





There's no cocaine in it. "Coca leaves *stripped* of cocaine"





This is the original recipe. Didn't you read the post or look at the
tinyurl above?

It shows a picture of the original recipe as it was written in Pembertons
book.


--
Peter Lucas
Hobart
Tasmania

"As we weep for what we have lost, and as we grieve for family and friends
and we confront the challenge that is before us, I want us to remember who
we are.

We are Queenslanders.

We're the people that they breed tough, north of the border.

We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again."
 
Doug Freyburger wrote in
news:[email protected]:




How many you need?



--
Peter Lucas
Hobart
Tasmania

"As we weep for what we have lost, and as we grieve for family and friends
and we confront the challenge that is before us, I want us to remember who
we are.

We are Queenslanders.

We're the people that they breed tough, north of the border.

We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again."
 
On 15/02/2011 6:28 PM, Doug Freyburger wrote:


It doesn't really matter. It's popularity has a lot to do with it's
advertising. Just look at what happened to their attempt back in the 80s
to increase it's market share by introducing a new formula. The came up
with something that tasted more like Pepsi, it's big competitor. In
blind taste tests, people preferred it. Both Coke and Pepsi drinkers
liked it best.

When they rolled out New Coke, people rebelled and insisted that they
bring back their old Coke. While New Coke failed as a product, it
inadvertently turned out to be a marketing miracle for Coke. They
brought back their same old product, called it Coke Classic, and sales
increased dramatically.... even though blind tastes tastes showed that
people like the new Coke. go figger.
 
On 15-Feb-2011, Doug Freyburger wrote:


And what This American Life found was a newspaper article from 1979
purporting to contain the original recipe. Finding a 32 year-old newspaper
article doesn't sound as impressive. Regardless, it was an interesting
show, just not an earth-shattering discovery.
--
Change Cujo to Juno in email address.
 
On Feb 15, 5:51?pm, Dave Smith wrote:


I still insist that Old Coke never came back after the change failed.
The only thing that came back was the old can design. Coca-Cola hasn't
been original Coca-Cola for a long, long time now.
 
Christopher Helms wrote:


My guess is they have gradually reduced the amount of coca flavoring.
There just isn't enough production -- they can only use what's leftover
from the pharmaceutical industry. Products like diet coke, Cherry coke
etc. don't include it at all. "New" coke had less of it, or possibly none.

Steve
 
On Feb 15, 9:35?pm, Christopher Helms wrote:

I agree. I've thought that ever since the change. It never was the
same again after that.
 
Christopher Helms wrote:

The "Pepsi Challenge" advertizing campaign was comparing a shot glass
sized portion side by side. Pepsi is more sweet and less tart. Coca
Cola is less sweet and more tart. I think in small quantities most
people prefer sweet in small quantites. As the quantity increases I
think more and more perfer tart. So Pepsi wins in tiny portions, Coke
in large portions.


I figure that's also when they switched from cane sugar to HFCS.
 
In article , [email protected]
says...

As a matter of trivia, John Sculley, then Vice President of USA sales
and marketing for Pepsi (and later President of the company), was once
pressured by a reporter into taking the Pepsi Challenge. To his dismay,
he picked Coke.
 
Christopher Helms wrote in news:1d81a815-52cd-
[email protected]:


Actually, the water to syrup ratio varies somewhat from place to place. It
seems it's adjusted to reflect local preferences, which makes sense. For a
long time, Coca-Cola bought in Qu?bec had a much more pronounced herbal
taste than Coca-Cola bought in Ontario. As for the US, as my son put it,
over there it tastes like piss.

Anyway, I prefer chinotto.

--

"The officer corps will forgive anything they can
understand, which makes intelligence the only sin."

Carnell, Blakes 7 episode 16
 
Michel wrote:


There's an old Bloom County comic strip in which two characters are debating
whether to have a Coke or a Pepsi. They both quote some of the advertising
campaigns of the time, and then conclude that they don't want either one,
because both taste like malted battery acid.

Bob
 
That may be true, chemically or whatever, but to me, Coke is way too
sweet, and Pepsi is nice and tart. I only drink diet Pepsi caffeine-
free, probably once or twice a year. Soda isn't anything I ever keep
on hand.

N.
 
In article
,
Christopher Helms wrote:


Someone once told me they sold the old Coke recipe to RC. I don't
know if that's true, but I do prefer RC to both Coke and Pepsi. I like
the sugar Coke in glass bottles quite well, though.

Regards,
Ranee @ Arabian Knits

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
 
Ran?e at Arabian Knits wrote:

That depends on how original you mean. The recipe evolved over the
years. One reason for the switch from Old Coke to New Coke was
supposedly to switch from cane sugar to HFCS because of the price
difference in the US. I think Coke Classic was close to the previous
recipe except with HFCS.


I taste the vanilla very clearly in RC and Diet Rite. They must use a
lot more vanilla than either Coke or Pepsi. Less than Vanilla Coke but
a lot more than regular.
 
On Feb 15, 4:53?pm, Nad R wrote:



Can of Diet Coke I'm looking at says it has 40mg of sodium -- if this
is hidden it's hidden like Poe's Purloined Letter.
 
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