By Euronews Roma
Published on •Updated
In the archives of the historic San Marco Pharmacy, in Florence, a mid-19th-century slip of paper has been found containing the recipe for an “Elixir vinoso ricostituente”, described as a drink capable of easing physical and mental fatigue and weakness caused by age or exertion.
The person who found the recipe was Father Manuel Russo, rector of the San Marco convent.
“I stumbled across the old advert for this elixir while I was consulting our archive. I began delving deeper into the documentation kept in the convent and discovered that it was one of the most sought-after products in the friars’ pharmacy,” he told the weekly Toscana Oggi.
The composition and history of the recipe
What is most surprising is the composition of the tonic: thirty grams of kola nut and ten grams of Bolivian coca leaves, infused in a litre of alcoholic blend. It is the same mixture that underpins the medicinal compound which, in 1886, American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton is thought to have used to create his “French Wine Coca”, the forerunner of modern Coca-Cola.
The only difference lies in the absence of alcohol, due to Prohibition in force in America at the time, which the pharmacist compensated for with carbonated water and syrup.
Father Manuel Russo told Toscana Oggi that the recipe dates back to the 18th century, but that it enjoyed its widest circulation between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to the weekly, during the period when Florence was Italy’s capital, from 1865 to 1871, it was not uncommon for officials and office workers to stop at the San Marco convent during their breaks to sip the tonic.
According to the rector, this story, evidenced by the note with the recipe, some original labels and a few empty bottles, highlights the advanced pharmaceutical tradition of the Dominican friars.
As for any connection between the composition of the Florentine elixir and that of the American medicine, there is no proof whatsoever. What remains is a suggestion and a series of coincidences that arouse curiosity about the history of one of the world’s most famous drinks.
The mystery of Coca-Cola’s origins
Florence is not the only city where a recipe similar to that of the US beverage is hidden.
In Aielo de Malferit, a small town in Spain’s Valencian Community, a very similar syrup was also produced in the 19th century, called “Nuez de Cola Coca”, and it is still made today.
Originally its name was “Anís Celestial” and it was produced by the Aielo Liquor Factory, founded in 1880 by three friends, Bautista Aparici, Ricardo Sanz and Enrique Ortiz.
With their liqueurs, the owners won numerous prizes and took part in international events, including the 1889 Paris World’s Fair and a drinks competition held in Philadelphia in 1885, just one year before the official birth of Coca-Cola.
“Aparici often travelled to the United States to open up new markets. In those years a blight destroyed our vineyards and he brought back a more resistant vine, the American one, which we still use today. In return he left bottles of Nuez de Cola Coca,” says Juan Juan Micó, the factory’s current owner, speaking to the BBC.
There is no further evidence of links between Aparici and America. What is known is that the following year pharmacist John Stith Pemberton created “French Wine Coca”, which would later take the name Coca-Cola and go on to enjoy extraordinary success first in the United States and then around the world.
In the meantime, the Aielo liquor factory passed from hand to hand and, after being requisitioned during the Spanish Civil War, in 1953 it crossed paths again with the US multinational. When Coca-Cola arrived in Spain, it realised there was a similar drink hindering its expansion and it bought the patent.
Nuez de Cola Coca continues to be produced in its alcoholic version, and in Aielo de Malferit the question lingers: what if Coca-Cola really originated in a small town in the province of Valencia?