Coca-Cola, Always The Real Thing…

Or Taste The Feeling?

Coca-Cola, the most famous soft drink today was invented in 1886 by pharmacist John S. Pemberton. John was injured during the Civil War and addicted to morphine. The idea was to create a “nerve tonic” that would be a relaxant and an energizer and help him fight his addiction. The first Coke formula was originally an alcoholic cocktail, had a green color and contained cocaine, about 9 milligrams per glass. Those substances were removed from the beverage in 1903. Although Pemberton was the inventor of Coca-Cola, his bookkeeper Frank Robinson invented the name – referring to two original ingredients – kola nuts and coca leaves. Robinson had beautiful handwriting, and his Coca-Cola logo is still in use. The iconic and the most famous and recognizable bottle was shaped like a cocoa bean.

The original formula of this drink was a top-secret, guarded for decades, but a historian from Atlanta, Charles Salter, found a document with it while he was going through the private archive of John S. Pemberton. The handwritten recipe was a fluid extract of coca, lemon oil, cinnamon oil, nutmeg oil and caramel. What had been changed since remains a secret.

Numbers

In the first years, Coke sold 25 bottles. Today, it sells 1.8 billion bottles – not per year, per day! Coca-Cola owns over half of all soft drinks sold and has so many types of drinks that a person should need 9 years to try them all, drinking one per day. The company’s worth is $83.8 billion and it’s the third most valuable brand, after Google and Apple.

The Coca-Cola logo is the most recognizable logo in the world – 96% of the human population knows it and there are only two countries that don’t sell this beverage – North Korea and Cuba. Who sells it the most? Believe it or not – it’s not America. It’s Mexico. Mexican’s drink 745 Cokes per year on average, while Americans stay far behind, averaging 400.

Did you know?

A can of Coke contains a lot of sugar – about 39 grams, which would be about 10 teaspoons. Of course, there is also diet Coke, for those who are careful about their figure. Interesting fact – both Coke and Diet Coke are considered to be effective spermicide, but neither is suggested as a method of birth control. Another interesting thing – this beverage has no taste memory, just like water, which means one can never get sick of it.

The Coca-Cola marketing team was very clever – they recreated the image of modern Santa Claus, dressing him in a contrasting red and white outfit, the same colors as their brand’s logo. This resulted in the most beautiful Coca-Cola and Santa Holiday commercials.

Even in modern days, Coca-Cola is considered a cure for a lot of things (none are proven) – diarrhea, hiccups, low libido and even jellyfish burns. One is sure – if you over-consume, you may end up with a lot of health issues, aside from obesity. There’s a well-known case of a 30-year-old woman who drank two gallons of Coke per day. She died and the autopsy revealed her liver was ruined. Her teeth as well.

You may consider it good or bad, like it or not, but 10,000 cans of this drink are sold every second in the world, even while you are reading this. We can agree Coke is not the healthiest thing around but there is nothing as refreshing and tasty on a hot day after a barbecue or pizza as a glass of Coca-Cola with ice. Enjoy.

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