- A 19th-century pharmacy leaflet discovered at the Convent of San Marco reveals a striking recipe based on coca leaves and kola nuts, ingredients that would later become famous in the world’s most iconic soft drink.
- The Elixir Vinoso Ricostituente recipe includes 10g of Bolivian coca leaves and 30g of kola nut, blended with wine, promoted as a tonic for recuperating from fatigue.
- John Stith Pemberton created Coca-Cola in 1886, reformulating a product that included similar ingredients to those found in the leaflet.
- The medicinal tonic was marketed as a remedy for physical and mental fatigue, headaches, and age-related weakness, typical claims for such products in the mid-1800s.
- The ingredients arrived in Florence through Dominican missionary networks, with coca leaves brought from South America and kola nuts from Africa.
- The document is believed to have been produced around the mid-19th century, when friars traded in coca leaves before they were banned in 1961.
- The friars' concoction was popular, with prices ranging between 2 and 6 Italian lira, less than a cent in today’s euro currency.
A recently rediscovered 19th-century pharmacy leaflet from the Convent of San Marco in Florence reveals a recipe for a tonic made from Bolivian coca leaves and kola nuts, ingredients that would later be used in Coca-Cola.13
The leaflet promotes an “Elixir Vinoso Ricostituente” (“Restorative Wine Elixir”), marketed as a remedy for physical and mental fatigue, headaches, and age-related weakness. It highlights the convent's role in early medicinal experimentation, as the elixir was designed to help recuperate the body and mind from fatigue caused by illness and aging.2
The recipe details a mixture of 10g of coca leaves and 30g of kola nuts blended with wine, echoing the formula later used by American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in his 1886 creation of Coca-Cola.
According to Father Manuel Russo, who discovered the leaflet while cataloguing records, the ingredients were brought to Florence through Dominican missionary networks. Missionaries returning from South America introduced coca leaves, while kola nuts were sourced from Africa.5
The document, believed to date from the mid-19th century, underscores the popularity of the elixir, which was sold for 2 to 6 Italian lira—less than a cent in today’s euro currency. Russo noted that it was one of the convent's bestsellers, praised for its fantastic properties against fatigue.6
However, Russo remains cautious about linking the friars' creation directly to Coca-Cola, humorously stating, “I don’t want to attract a lawsuit from Coca-Cola or something like that.”
“The leaflet details a recipe for an elixir made from 10g of Bolivian coca leaves and 30g of kola nuts, marketed as a remedy for fatigue. Father Manuel Russo noted that the elixir was popular among customers, priced between 2 and 6 Italian lira, before coca leaves were banned in 1961.”
The Guardian
