Producers of the radio show This American Life are claiming they’ve discovered the safely-guarded recipe for Coca-Cola in an interesting way: A direct picture of the recipe in a 1979 newspaper article within Coca-Cola’s hometown newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. According to the radio producers, the picture used for the article is a hand-written copy of the original recipe for the beverage, supposedly written in a leather-bound recipe book by one of creator John Pemberton’s friends, and passed down for generations.
The recipe consists of a base formula, and the famously secret “7X flavor.” From Time’s article:
Recipe:
- Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
- Citric acid: 3 oz
- Caffeine: 1 oz
- Sugar: 30 (though it is pointed out that it is 30 of an unclear quantity)
- Water: 2.5 gal
- Lime juice: 2 pints, 1 quart
- Vanilla: 1 oz
- Caramel: 1.5 oz (or more for color)
7X Flavor:
- Alcohol: 8 oz
- Orange oil: 20 drops
- Lemon oil: 30 drops
- Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
- Coriander: 5 drops
- Neroli: 10 drops
- Cinnamon: 10 drops
After making a brew with the above formula, the This American Life team held a taste test, with experts (though their qualifications weren’t mentioned) and regular people as participants. Supposedly, the brew was so close to Coca-Cola that some people couldn’t differentiate between the two, though the overall verdict is that the recipe is fairly similar to Coca-Cola, but not quite there.
(Time via Hacker News)
