Perhaps one of the most guarded recipes in the entire world is the Coca Cola recipe, something they hold close to their chest and probably will never release to anyone.
There are stories circulating the internet about the Coke recipe that range from “only two people know the recipe and they each only know half of the recipe” to the classic “No one really knows the recipe, they each do one part of the recipe and the machine takes care of the rest” So when “This American Life” a radio show found what looked to be the original recipe in a News Paper, they were stunned and shocked to see the ingredients and all. The recipe was published openly several decades ago in an old newspaper article. I guess they never thought the Brand was going to become so popular.
Ofcourse the recipe has changed over the decades, but if you want to try coke as it was in the beginning, here is the formula for Coca-Cola Classic, complete with the ultra-secret “7X flavor” that makes Coke so unique and tasteful, Good Luck and let us know how it turns out:
Standard ingredients:
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
This American Life has instructions about how to cook your own batch of Coca-Cola here.
