Did you know that the first Coke drink was red wine mixed with cocaine? And can you guess which country consumes on average 700 glasses per year? How about the version that tastes like space? Coca-Cola is a drink enjoyed all over the globe and here, we reveal its secrets and some little-known facts.
Coca-Cola makes a big deal about its recipe being a closely-guarded secret, going as far to say that it’s locked in a high-security vault in Atlanta (pictured). But in 2011, This American Life published what it believed to be the recipe, found in a 130-year-old notebook belonging to the inventor's best friend. The drink's 15 ingredients include cinnamon, neroli, coriander and nutmeg oil. Coca-Cola insisted, if anything, this was an old recipe.
Invented by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886, Coca-Cola was originally advertised as a brain tonic to relieve headaches and exhaustion. It contained ingredients from the kola nut, including caffeine, and also cocaine – but not as much as people think. There was only 9 milligrams per glass and it was removed in 1903. Pictured is a vintage Coca-Cola advert from the 1890s.
Pemberton’s inspiration for the drink was a popular concoction called Vin Mariani, invented in France. It was a mixture of Bordeaux red wine and cocaine. This poster pictured here, from 1895, shows how it was marketed as a tonic that "fortifies and refreshes the body and brain". However, the US, especially the Deep South, was in the midst of an anti-alcohol movement. This gave Pemberton the idea of creating a drink for those who were abstinent
The name Coca-Cola was born out of two components of the drink: cocaine which was derived from the coca plant and caffeine from the kola nut (alliteration was deemed to be more marketable). The logo hasn’t changed much since 1886, aside from a few tweaks. The Spencerian font first used is still evident in today’s design – the most noticeable addition was the wavy underline in 1969. This advert was published in Family Circle magazine, in July 1953.
One of John Pemberton’s earliest marketing efforts was to gift coupons for free samples of Coca-Cola to the Atlantic elite. When Candler took over, sampling was taken up a notch and by the 1890s, Coca-Cola was handing out ‘complimentary tickets’ (pictured) to redeem at soda fountains. Between 1886 and 1913, one in nine Americans received a free sample of Coca-Cola