Reported original Coke formula revealed by a US radio host
An American radio show reportedly obtained the original recipe of famed soda drink Coca-Cola and decided to read out the full contents of the ingredients during a weekend airing.
Radio show host Ira Glass announced on air that his team "may have found the original recipe for Coca Cola," which he described as "one of the most famously guarded trade secrets on the planet."
According to Glass, the classic Coke formula was found on an old collection of recipes kept by a pharmacist in Atlanta and was even published in the late 70s, prompting him to conclude that "Coke was invented by a pharmacist and was originally sold at pharmacy soda fountains."
Reports said that the book was originally owned by an acquaintance of Coke inventor, John Pemberton, and was circulated among pharmacists prior to its discovery by a newspaper columnist.
Glass said that the ingredients contained in the recipe was compared to an earlier document purportedly alluding to the same recipe and the two formulas marched, convincing him that what he got is the real thing.
Labelled as Merchandise Seven X, the formula, according to Glass, calls for a mix of "20 drops of orange oil, 30 drops of lemon oil, 10 drops of nutmeg oil, five drops of coriander oil, 10 drops of neroli oil, 10 drops of cinnamon and eight ounces of alcohol."
That concoction, estimated at about 2.5 ounces, needs to be combined with "two pints of lime juice, an ounce of vanilla, 1.5 ounces of caramel colour, 30 pounds of sugar and fluid extract of coca leaf," which Glass noted carries a miniscule trace of cocaine that probably explains its addictive effect.
However, any attempts to mix the ingredients would not produce the taste that the present iteration of Coke now carries, which Glass said could be largely caused by modern facilities better approach in simulating soda flavours.