Coca-Cola is said to have been around since the end of the 19th century.Image: Keystone
July 29, 2026, 4:01 p.mJuly 29, 2026, 4:01 p.m
In the archives of a monastery pharmacy in Tuscany, documents for a recipe mixture were discovered that could have been a kind of precursor to Coca-Cola as early as the mid-19th century.
During cleanup work in the San Marco monastery in the Tuscan capital of Florence, Rector Manuel Russo said he found an advertising flyer for a “strengthening wine elixir” made from coca leaves and cola nuts. According to the Dominican monk, the drink was one of the best-selling products in pharmacies at the time.
Coca leaves and cola nuts were also part of a mixture that the pharmacist John Pemberton mixed together in the USA a few decades later. “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca” then became Coca-Cola. The first advertisement for it appeared in 1886. Because alcohol was banned in the United States, Pemberton replaced it with water and sugar syrup. The exact recipe for the brown lemonade has always been kept secret by the US company.
30 grams of nuts, ten grams of leaves, one liter of alcohol mixture
Russo reported to the Catholic weekly newspaper “Toscana Oggi”: “While looking through our archives, I came across the old advertisement for this elixir.” He then began to examine the documents kept in the monastery in more detail and discovered “that it was one of the most sought-after products in the monastic pharmacy.” The monk pointed out that there was no evidence of a direct connection with Pemberton’s invention.
The successor product, Coca-Cola, is also very popular.Image: KEYSTONE
On the yellowed sheet of paper, the “strengthening wine elixir” (Elixir vinoso ricostituente) is described as a tonic that can relieve physical and mental fatigue, headaches and weaknesses caused by age or “extraordinary exertion”. The composition: 30 grams of cola nuts and ten grams of Bolivian coca leaves, infused with a liter of alcohol mixture. Leaves and nuts are said to have been brought to Tuscany by missionaries from South America.
The recipe is strictly secured in the safe
The exact recipe for Coca-Cola has always been a big secret. Every few years there are claims that someone has revealed the secret – but so far that has never been true. According to the US group, only a handful of people within the company know the exact formula. Pemberton allegedly never wrote down the formula himself, but only passed it on orally. According to the group, it was first put to paper in 1919. Today it is in a safe.
The Monastery of San Marco is one of the most famous sights in Florence. The associated pharmacy, Antica Farmacia di San Marco, was founded in 1436. There, the Dominican monks provided the population with medicinal herbs, essences, elixirs and perfumed waters for centuries. Today it no longer exists in its original form. (nil/sda/dpa)