After years of research, KukaXoco has assembled a variety of sets
of data that together provide the complete formulations for Coca-Cola
and Pepsi cola sodas, sugary and diet - including the formula for
the cola soda flavor in Coca-Cola's vaunted vault in Atlanta. Along
with KukaXoco's coca-leaf data, all of this information will help
usher in a new era of healthier, better tasting cola sodas!
Most details on these formulas, their originating documents, plus
200 years of cola soda chemistry, is available in our book,
"Opening the Vault", and for industry professionals, our "Encyclopedia
of Cola Soda Chemistry", available at the Our Products page.
In 1906, A. Emil Hiss published a book, "The Standard Manual of Soda and Other Beverages". On page 76, he listed the following formula for ELIXIR OF KOLA.
Ingredient Quantity Fluid extract of kola 1.0 fluid ounce Fluid extract of coca 1.5 fluid ounces Fluid extract of celery seed 1.0 fluid ounce Tincture of sweet orange peel 0.5 fluid ounce Oil of orange 2 fluid drams
(1/8 ounce)Oil of cinnamon 8 drops Oil of cloves 8 drops Alcohol, denatured alcohol to make 16 fluid ounces Purified talcum 1 av. ounce
About 100 years ago, Pepsi published the following data about its cola soda formula.
Ingredient Quantity Sugar - Standard Confectioners A 7,200 pounds Water 10,000 pounds (1200 gallons) Caramel - burnt sugar color 12 gallons Phosphoric avid (S.G. 1.750) 58 pounds Lime juice 12 gallons Alcohol 0.5 gallons Flavorings Oil Lemon 6 fluid ounces Oil Orange 5 fluid ounces Oil Cinnamon 4 luid ounces Oil Nutmeg 2 fluid ounces Oil Coriander 2 fluid ounces Oil Petit Grain 1 fluid ounces
About 40 years ago, an industry handbook on flavors published the following formulas for cola syrups and concentrates.
Ingredient Quantity (grams) COLA FLAVOR EMULSION grams Brominated vegetable oil 454 Gun acacia 340 Oil of cinnamon (Ceylon) 50 Oil of lemon 25 Oil of lime 10 Oil of orange 10 Oil of coriander 5 Water 2900 - to make one gallon
COLA SYRUP milliliters Sugar syrup (65°ree; Brix) 88 fluid ounces COLA FLAVOR EMULSION 82.00 Phosphoric acid 85% 6.40 Caramel, acid proof 5.41 Salt solution 4.70 Citric acid solution 3.60 Water to make one gallon
COLA FLAVOR CONCENTRATE grams COLA FLAVOR EMULSION 158.00 Phosphoric acid 85% 286.00 Lime extract 94.62 Caffeine 83.07 Solid extract Kola nuts 16.24 Vanilla extract 5.00 Water to make one gallon
DIETETIC COLA SYRUP milliliters COLA FLAVOR CONCENTRATE 82.00 Caramel, acid proof 5.41 Citric acid solution 3.60 Lime oil extract 2.05 Saccharin, soluble 1.6 grams Cyclamate 23.50 grams Water to make one gallon
COLA FLAVOR BASE grams Lemon oil - California, cold pressed 46.80 Orange oil 24.85 Lime oil, distilled 14.20 Cinnamon or cassia oil 10.65 Nutmeg oil 3.50 Neroli oil (optional) 0.01 Alcohol, 95% 11 fluid ounces Water 5 fluid ounces
About 50 years ago, Coca-Cola published data about its cola soda formula. Unlike the Pepsi formula from 50 years, other than vanilla, no mention is made of the flavoring ingredients.
Ingredient Quantity per gallon
of Coca-Cola syrupQuantity per gallon
of diet Coca-Cola syrupWater 4.4927 pounds
(2037.85 grams)8.0195 pounds
(3637.58 grams)Sugar 2.8267 pounds
(1281.17 grams)0 Fructose HFCS-55 2.9816 pounds
(1352.43 grams)0 Saccharin 0 8.944 grams Caramel 91.11 grams 85.48 Caffeine 2.36 grams 3.15 grams Cola Nut Extract 2.18 grams 0 Phosphoric Acid 12.20 grams 5.96 grams Citric Acid 0 4.76 grams Sodium Benzoate 0 4.79 grams Sodium 0.94 grams 2.29 grams Vanilla Extract 1.86 grams 1.13 grams
About 20 years ago, Pepsi published partial data about one formulation for its diet cola sodas. Unlike 100 years ago, Pepsi this time doesn't provide any detail of its flavorings. Data from the above table for diet Coke is provided for comparison. Missing quantities from Pepsi's formula can be roughly approximated using CocaCola's quantities.
Ingredient Quantity per gallon
of diet Pepsi syrupQuantity per gallon
of diet Coca-Cola syrupWater 2000 grams 3637.58 grams Saccharin 0 8.944 grams Sucralose 10.56 grams 0 Caramel amount not listed 85.48 grams Caffeine 1.24 grams 3.15 grams Phosphoric acid 5.50 grams 5.96 grams Citric Acid 0.267 grams 4.760 grams Potassium Citrate 4.070 grams 0 Sodium Benzoate amount not listed 4.79 grams Sodium not listed 2.29 grams Flavor Concentrate 22.22 milliliters
(about 1gm/100ml)amount not listed
A few years ago, a Chinese company published a formula for a cola soda flavor for use in electronic cigarettes:
Ingredient Quantity, in parts by weight Alpha pinene 0.1 - 2.0 Beta pinene 0.1 - 2.0 Limonene 1.0 - 30.0 Sweet orange oil 1.0 - 10.0 Lemon oil 1.0 - 20.0 Myrcene 0.1 - 0.5 Cinnamic aldehyde 0.1 - 2.0 Cinnamon oil 0.1 - 5.0 Citral 0.1 - 10.0 Geranial 0.1 - 5.0 Geranyl acetate 1.0 - 10.0 Sisensal 0.1 - 5.0 Citronellol 1.0 - 10.0 Geranyl propionate 1.0 - 10.0 Eugenol allyguajacol 0.1 - 5.0 Ethyl maltol 0.1 - 2.0 Furanone 0.1 - 3.0 Raspberry ketone 0.1 - 5.0 Cinnamyl alcohol 1.0 - 25.0 Cinnamyl acetate 1.0 - 10.0 Vanillin 1.0 - 15.0 Ethyl vanillin 1.0 - 15.0 Coffee extract 0.1 - 2.0
Last, but not least, a few years ago, an American graduate student published data on a chemical mixture that when mixed into a cola soda base, created a soda that tasting panels agreed achieved the same taste as Coca-Cola soda. This then is the equivalent of the "secret formula" in Coca-Cola's vaunted vault in Atlanta. The subtlety of the following formulation can be understood by one observation of the graduate student: if the four chemicals at the bottom (methyleugenol, eugenol, (E)-isoeugeneol, (Z)-isoeugeneol), present in very small quantities, are not included, people can taste the difference.
Compound Concentration
(nanograms/gram)(R)-(+)-limonene 5,050 alpha-terpineol 4,180 (E)-cinnamaldehyde 1,600 4-terpineol 702 vanillin 176 1,8-cineole 101 (+)-borneol 107 (-)-borneol 99.3 linalool 74.1 courmarin 46.0 octanal 35.2 nonanal 26.4 geraniol 23.3 decanal 17.6 iso-borneol 15.8 nerol 11.5 guiacol 1.5 methyleugeneol 8.7 eugenol 6.3 (E)-isoeugeneol 2.7 (Z)-isoeugeneol 0.2
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