It is one of the most famous and most appreciated drinks in the world, perhaps the most famous ever. And while it's not exactly healthy (to put it mildly), it's been an icon of Western lifestyle for decades now. Let's talk about Coca-Cola, which turns 135 today: it was invented by the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton on May 8, 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia. Initially its name was "Pemberton's French Wine Coca" and it was patented as a drug against headaches and tiredness: after all, even today, thanks to its caffeine content, it is considered an energizing drink. Its formula, still very secret and with various attempts at imitation, takes its cue from coca wine, invented by the Corso pharmacist Angelo Mariani in 1863: a mixture of wine and coca leaves. Pemberton replaced the alcoholic component with an extract of kola nuts, a tropical plant reputed to be harmless to health.
From the combined use of the two main ingredients, coca and cola, the drink therefore acquired its current name. When coca was also banned (in fact cocaine is extracted from its plant), the alkaloid from the extracts from coca leaves was discarded, while cola (in nuts) continued to be used. However, the invention, in some ways epochal, did not allow Pemberton to make a fortune, as one might have expected: the pharmacist accumulated heavy debts and for just $2.300 he sold formula and rights of Coca-Cola to Asa Candler, who made it into the colossus we all know today (and which also owns the Fanta and Sprite brands). The success achieved in the United States led the drink to be listed on the Stock Exchange in 1919, and from that moment its international expansion began. Coca officially arrived in Italy in 1927, but it was only in 1960 that the legendary 33 ml can appeared for the first time. In 1980, however, the half-litre format arrived in Italy, in a plastic bottle.
The famous Coca-Cola logo was also created in 1886 by a collaborator of Pemberton, Frank Mason Robinson, who used the Spencerian Script font as a basis, which at that time was among the most common and used in the United States. It binds to this logo an urban legend which has spread quite rapidly throughout the world: it seems that by observing the Coca-Cola writing in the mirror it is possible to interpret the image as a phrase in Arabic that would carry a message against Islamic culture, "No to Mohammed, No to Mecca, no to prayers". In reality it is unlikely that at the time of the creation of this logo the intentions could have been those…
it sucks and is completely flavorless