meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Gastropod

Always Coca-Cola: Coca, Kola, and the *Real* Secret Formula

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2023

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Coca-Cola's red and white logo is so iconic that supposedly nine out of every ten people on Earth know it on sight. Nearly two billion servings of Coke are sold a day, enough for one out of every four people on the planet. Yet while a glimpse of a billboard or bottle might start you humming one of their catchy jingles, this legendary brand was actually created by a morphine-addicted, down-on-his-luck pharmacist desperate for a big break. In fact, the first Coca-Cola product was actually a knockoff of the Pope's favorite drink, a concoction featuring red wine and cocaine. So how did Coke transcend its dubious origins to become one of the world’s biggest companies, not to mention a globally recognized symbol of all things American? It’s a story that involves Sigmund Freud, US military assistance, international drug treaty loopholes, and a New Jersey facility that extracts and burns piles of cocaine (yes, really, cocaine!) just miles from Manhattan. Gastropod’s here with Coca-Cola’s real secret formula for success, and we didn’t even need to break into their vault to get it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Some things are just burned into your brain.

0:26.2

I know the words to all of those.

0:28.1

But, of course, this is Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history.

0:46.6

I'm Nikola Twilly.

0:47.6

And I'm Cynthia Graber, and if you've traveled around the world, you might notice that it doesn't matter where you go.

0:52.4

It doesn't matter how small the town or villages, you can almost always find a cook there.

0:57.6

Why? How did Coke get so big?

0:59.9

Because it contains cocaine, obviously. Or does it?

1:03.9

What is Coke's secret formula?

1:06.1

And why is the recipe for brown-carbonated sugar-water such a big deal anyway?

1:10.7

All that plus the surprising story of a morphine-addicted failing pharmacist who invented the most valuable brand on Earth.

1:17.9

Gastropod is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network in partnership with Eater.

1:21.6

And just before we jump into today's episode, I have a movie I want to recommend to you,

1:27.2

which is not something we usually do at Gastropod, but this is exciting.

1:31.4

My husband, Jeff, who, longtime listeners, will have heard on the show many times,

1:35.5

he wrote an adorable short story about a family and a depressed ghost in the FBI,

1:41.2

and it was adapted by Netflix into a funny, family-friendly movie, and the movie is called We Have A Ghost.

1:47.7

And it started streaming on February 24th, so please check it out.

1:51.8

We have a ghost on Netflix.

1:53.7

Support for this show comes from the Genesis GV70 Performance SUV.

2:01.4

Every Genesis is a reminder to try something bold, to keep growing, keep hustling.

2:08.4

At Genesis, they've harnessed all that excitement of beginnings into their performance SUV, the GV70.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.