COCA-COLA HAS TRACES OF ALCOHOL
Alcohol 1.27 per cent.
alcohol of about twenty per cent strength ...
for those who wont read the article
>>>>>The cocaine was removed from the coca leaves by rinsing with toluol, a solvent. Cocaine dissolves in toluol ; repeated rinsing leaches away the cocaine. According to Dr. Schaeffer's testimony, there was wine in Coca-Cola. The alcohol used in making merchandise no. 5 was usually a mixture of California white wine and 95 percent commercial alcohol. But Dr. Schaeffer sometimes used an alcohol-water mixture "if California wine is too high in price. It is altogether a matter of price of the wine or of the alcohol. "
Merchandise no. 5, according to testimony, was a dark, winey liquid. Several of the witnesses were given samples of merchandise no. 5. One thought it tasted and smelled no different from the wine it was made from. One Coca-Cola witness claimed it had the characteristic odor of coca but proved unable to describe the odor. Another witness said it smelled like toluol, the toxic solvent that isn't supposed to be present in the final product at all.
An experiment was performed for the benefit of the court. Coca-Cola made up a special batch of syrup containing no merchandise no. 5. Witnesses thought it tasted the same as the regular syrup.
In short, neither coca nor kola has much, if anything, to do with the taste of Coca-Cola. Both substances, in fact, have unpleasant, bitter flavors wholly unlike that of Coca-Cola.
Pemberton, remember, was concocting a medicinal syrup. Because his two active ingredients had unpleasant flavors, he masked them with other flavors?the way a codeine cough syrup might be cherry-flavored.
As it happened, Coca-Cola became successful for its flavor rather than for any medicinal value. Dozens of imitations sprang up, most with "Cola" in their name. Thus "cola" became the generic term for soft drinks similar to Coca-Cola. Most?though not all?of these imitations contained kola nuts. But as with Coke, the kola really didn't contribute to the flavor. <<<<
