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Culture & Society
The pharmacist who invented Coca-Cola in 1886 claimed it treated impotence and morphine addiction, while today's version is linked to health risks.
On May 8, 1886, a former Confederate army officer and pharmacist named John Stith Pemberton first served his new concoction at Jacobs' Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, selling each glass for five cents. The drink, originally registered as a remedy for "nervous system disorders," derived its name from two key ingredients: coca leaves and kola nuts.
In West Africa, kola nuts have long been chewed for their stimulant effects, producing euphoria in group settings and suppressing hunger. Unlike the caffeine in typical sodas, the caffeine and theobromine in kola nuts build up slowly in the body and last up to six hours. The kola nut contains up to 2.5 percent caffeine, along with kolanin and theobromine—all stimulants. While the original Coca-Cola relied on this fruit as its core ingredient, the company now uses artificial flavors and added caffeine instead.
Pemberton, a pharmacist, amateur chemist, and co-owner of a small Georgia drug company, developed the original formula in the late 19th century. It was a thick syrup made from kola nut extract, Peruvian coca leaf extract, and other components. The name "Coca-Cola" came from Frank Mason Robinson, Pemberton's bookkeeper. Remarkably, Pemberton also claimed his drink cured impotence and could serve as a substitute for morphine addicts—an ironic claim given that he himself was addicted to the drug.
Pemberton invented his beverage during a period of alcohol prohibition and marketed it as a treatment for morphine addiction, migraines, nervous disorders, gastritis, and erectile dysfunction. The 1886 alcohol ban in Atlanta played a major role in Coca-Cola's early success, as people switched from expensive alcoholic drinks to the affordable cola. Just two years after its invention, Pemberton sold the rights to businessman Asa Griggs Candler, who founded The Coca-Cola Company.
The drink's composition has evolved over time. In 1903, during the U.S. anti-cocaine campaign, the company replaced cocaine with a decocainized coca leaf extract, and by 1905, cocaine had vanished entirely from the recipe, leaving only caffeine. Asa Candler kept the formula a closely guarded secret: the company produces ingredients across different plants, assigns each a number, and reveals proportions and mixing methods to managers—but never the actual ingredient names.
Candler also introduced innovations in the product and its marketing, ensuring widespread advertising and distribution across the United States. In 1906, the company expanded internationally, opening bottling lines in Cuba, Canada, and Panama.
By the end of 1886, Coca-Cola had become a carbonated beverage, thanks to a lazy soda jerk. The story goes that a man suffering from a hangover stopped at Jacobs' Pharmacy and ordered a glass. The clerk, Willie Venable, was too lazy to walk to the water source and asked the customer if he minded having soda water added to Pemberton's syrup instead. The customer agreed, loved the fizzy drink, and soon every pharmacy in Atlanta was serving Coca-Cola exclusively with carbonated water.
Over the years, the company has released many purported original recipes while insisting the true formula is known only to a select few. One recipe found in Pemberton's inventory when he sold the company rights includes: lemon oil, lime oil, nutmeg oil, nutmeg extract, coca leaf extract, vanillin, citric acid, orange elixir, orange flower oil, and caffeine.
While Pemberton touted his creation as a cure for impotence, numerous medical studies show that regular consumption of Coca-Cola causes many health problems, including cancer. The company's early slogans—"Drink Coca-Cola. Delicious and Refreshing," "Thirst Knows No Season," and "The Global Symbol of the American Lifestyle"—painted a rosy picture, but critics say the reality is more like "hiding poison in honey."
