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Coke
Coke is a sweetened, carbonated soft drink, derived from drinks that contain caffeine from the kola nut and non-cocaine derivatives from coca leaves, flavored with vanilla and other ingredients.
Modern colas usually contain caramel color, caffeine, and sweeteners such as sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
History
In 1885, John Pemberton registered his French Wine Coca nerve tonic. In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation, Pemberton responded by developing Coca-Cola, a nonalcoholic version of French Wine Coca. The first sales were at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. It was initially sold as a patent medicine for five cents a glass at soda fountains, which were popular in the United States at the time due to the belief that carbonated water was good for the health. Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including morphine addiction, indigestion, nerve disorders, headaches, and impotence. Pemberton ran the first advertisement for the beverage on May 29 of the same year in the Atlanta Journal.
By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola – sold by three separate businesses – were on the market. A co-partnership had been formed on January 14, 1888 between Pemberton and four Atlanta businessmen.
To this day, Coca-Cola is written the same way. In the first year, Pemberton sold just nine glasses of Coca-Cola a day. A century later, The Coca-Cola Company has produced more than ten billion gallons of syrup. Over the course of three years, between 1888-1891, Atlanta businessman Asa Griggs Candler secured rights to the business for a total of about $2,300. Candler would become Coca-Cola’s first president and the first to bring real vision to the business and the brand.
There are now 1.9 billion servings of Coca-Cola Company products served every day.