Was Coke's Secret Recipe Revealed ? - This American Life

Was Coke's secret recipe revealed ? - This American Life : A public radio show has revealed what it purports to be the secret recipe for Coca Cola -- a formula which has become the stuff of legend after decades of careful marketing by one of the world's most recognizable brands.


One of the most closely guarded trade secrets in the history of commerce may be a secret no more: the radio show "This American Life" thinks it has found the exact recipe for the world's most popular soft drink in a 1979 newspaper article.The recipe is supposedly kept in a locked vault, and Coke at one point had an advertising campaign about the two top executives who knew the secret and couldn't fly on the same plane or the formula could be lost forever.

The handwritten formula was discovered in a pharmacist's old book of recipes and published in the company's hometown paper -- the Atlanta Journal Constitution -- in 1979, Glass said.

"If that seems a strange and random place to find this kind of thing, well, Coke was invented by a pharmacist and was originally sold at pharmacy soda fountains," he said.

The book apparently originally belonged to an acquaintance of Coke's inventor, John Pemberton, and was then passed from one pharmacist to another before it was eventually discovered by the newspaper columnist.

The newspaper even published a picture of the recipe, which was clear enough to read each ingredient.

According to the show's host, Ira Glass, the drink's secret flavoring component, which was created by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886, is something called "Merchandise 7X."

Well, here's what was written in the notebook:

The secret "Merchandise Seven X" formula is allegedly made from:

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

A spokesperson for Coca Cola insisted that its secret was safe.

"The ingredients used in our beverages are listed on the product labels and many third parties -- including 'This American Life' -- have tried over time to crack the secret formula of Coca-Cola," spokeswoman Kerry Tressler said in an e-mail.

"Try as they might to crack that formula, there truly is only one "real thing."