The formula of the first Coca-Cola: red wine & co?

The first Coca-Cola sold commercially was called Vin Mariani and was a compound based on red Bordeaux wine and cocaine, a formula later revised and made non-alcoholic by chemist John Stith Pemberton

Coca-Cola has over the years become a myth of our times, known everywhere in the world. The formula of the drink was kept secret by its inventor, but there are numerous disputes regarding the paternity of the beverage. The first Coca-Cola was born around 1800 in Corsica and was called Vin Mariani, a decidedly alcoholic drink composed of a mix of red Bordeaux wine and cocaine, conceived by chemist Angelo Mariani – news that has caught many fans of the famous non-alcoholic drink off guard, especially regarding the formula, since in addition to the red wine it contained traces of cocaine.

From the book by Bartow J. Elmore, which retraces the history of Coca-Cola, it has been learned that the birth of the beverage dates back several years before chemist John Stith Pemberton modified the original formula to make it non-alcoholic. It was precisely John Stith Pemberton who, in a chemical laboratory in Atlanta, in an effort to meet the demands of the American market but above all to avoid objections from prohibitionists, managed to rework the original formula – which contained a mix of red Bordeaux wine and cocaine – transforming it into a non-alcoholic drink.

The work carried out by John Stith Pemberton involved removing red Bordeaux wine from the formula, and instead elaborating a drink based on sugar syrup flavored with citric acid, vanilla, Chinese cinnamon oil, nutmeg and vanilla, with the addition of extracts from cola nuts and coca leaves – cocaine that however was not eliminated from the formula, and from which the name Coca-Cola derives.

Only after the financial failure of John Stith Pemberton and his sale of the secret formula to the company Asa Candler did the Coca-Cola brand reach even greater popularity. The same company subsequently took it upon itself to modify the formula once more, removing every trace of cocaine from the ingredients. It is certainly a sensational discovery both for fans of the world's most famous beverage, and above all regarding the formula kept secret for years – a brand that has always claimed paternity of the formula of John Stith Pemberton, a chemist who fundamentally did not invent the formula but merely modified the original recipe by replacing the red Bordeaux wine with simple non-alcoholic syrup.