Coca-Cola’s top secret recipe uncovered?

Posted by Andreja Lajh / Haut de Gamme on February 15, 2011 · 1 Comment

Alcohol, coriander oil and nutmeg oil are among the ingredients listed in what a radio show claims is the original recipe for Coca-Cola.

A public radio show in the US claims to have uncovered the top secret recipe for Coca-Cola.

Weekly radio show This American Life, based out of Chicago, says they’ve discovered the original recipe, buried quietly in the back pages of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution circa 1979 — a publication dedicated to the birthplace of this caramel-colored soda pop.

According to the recipe chronicled in the Atlanta periodical, the following are key ingredients in Coca-Cola’s top secret mix that give the fizzy drink its distinctive flavor, also known as 7X: alcohol, orange oil, lemon oil, nutmeg oil and coriander oil.

Since its creation in 1886, Coca-Cola has kept its formula a jealously guarded trade secret, spinning elaborate, public relations mythologies about the ingredients and the people who know them.

For example, the only official written copy is supposedly held under lock and key in a US vault; only two people at any given time know the secret formula; and they’re not allowed to take the same plane in the event it crashes and the trade secrets are taken to the grave.

The formula was supposedly first penned to paper by a friend of John Pemberton, the pharmacist who created the beverage 125 years ago. In addition to the secret recipe for Coca-Cola, the pharmacist’s log of handwritten ingredients for tonics and balms was handed down for generations until it found its way into the hands of a columnist who published the formula with what the radio host described as “little fanfare.”

According to the recipe found in the Atlanta periodical, the following are key ingredients to the soft drink’s top secret mix, also known as 7X:

List of ingredients:

Fluid extract of Coca 3 drams USP

Citric acid 3 oz

Caffeine 1oz

Sugar 30

Water 2.5 gal

Lime juice 2 pints 1 qrt

Vanilla 1oz

Caramel 1.5oz or more to colour

7X flavor:

Alcohol 8oz

Orange oil 20 drops

Lemon oil 30 drops

Nutmeg oil 10 drops

Coriander 5 drops

Neroli 10 drops

Cinnamon 10 drops

Since its creation in 1886, Coca-Cola has kept its formula a jealously guarded trade secret, spinning elaborate, public relations mythologies about the ingredients and the people who know them.