I recreated the original recipe once
On a trip to Potosí in Bolivia I saw coca leaves legally on sale in the Market. When chewed they are a mild, dry-tasting stimulant that is no more 'refreshing' than a nice cup of tea. I tried buying a handful, but the smallest Bolivian note I had, only worth a few US cents, got me a binbag full of the darned things. That evening me and some other travellers got talking about the original recipe for coca-cola, so we decided to recreate it. I bought 2litres of the stuff, tipped some away, stuffed leaves in until the bottle was full of fizzy mushy mess, and left it to steep for an hour or two. When drunk, it actually tasted rather good, and we all had a great evening giggling about 'the real thing' in various bars until very late at night a bar owner said he did not like our Mexican friend for 'talking too much' and refused to serve us any more
Interesting place Potosí. As a consequence of the nearby mines, you can walk into a shop and buy a stick of dynamite. But that is another story...
(lazyman, Tue 6 Dec 2011, 0:52, Reply)