Ben Gilbert

Huh.

That's right.

I didn't know that.

That's amazing.

So there's a great excerpt from the book Secret Formula.

At last, he stood on the verge of inventing Coca-Cola.

Down in the basement, Pemberton filled his 40-gallon kettle with plain water, which he then heated to a boil over an open fire.

Using a wooden paddle to stir the solution, he melted in sugar and caffeine.

Yes.

And actually, the coca plant was also bitter, so sugar was to offset it.

Yeah, yeah.

Next, he added caramel for coloring, giving the syrup its dark, distinctive port wine color.

To balance the sweetness of the sugar and give the syrup its tang, he added lime juice, citric acid, and phosphoric acid.

Then, as the basic blend cooled, Pemberton turned to the question of flavor.

Into the mix went vanilla extract, elixir of orange, and several pungent oils refined from various fruits, herbs, and trees.

Lemon, nutmeg, spice brush, coriander, and neroli—

The last ingredient in perfumes distilled from a flower of the orange tree.

The most exotic was oil of cassia, also known as Chinese cinnamon, made from the bark of a tree found in the tropical regions of Asia.

And of course, Pemberton added this brew to the fluid extract of coca leaves.

Yes.