I’ve actually been making various cola recipes in the meth lab I call a kitchen for the past ~2 years now, ranging from the leaked 1950s Coke recipe, Cube Cola, OpenCola, and a number of other variations, including my own sets.
In these experimentations I’ve started noticing the actual flavour differences between different colas. The issue is that these flavours are not something you’d recognise as they’re incredibly diluted. For example one recipe calls for a total of 15 MILLILITRES of various flavour oils, to make approximately 70-80 LITRES of cola. Yes you read that right, about half Oz of flavourings (sugar not included) to make 37-40 bottles of 64oz cola. In comparison, when I made my orange soda, I had to use approximately 60ml of flavourings to make TWO litres. 2oz of flavourings to make one bottle of 64oz orange soda.
And it’s insane how just a slight imbalance can alter the flavour. This recipe I mentioned calls for 0.7ml (about 6 drops) of cassia oil (basically, cinnamon). The cassia oil I sourced was so pure that that amount waaaay overpowered the other flavours and I had to tone it down to 0.25ml, nearly 1/3. Mind you that cinnamon coke wasn’t bad, just… incredibly cinnamony. Great for a bourbon mixer, pretty solid for a Long Island, but in itself it was just too strong.
Once I made it right I started experimenting, reducing it by 10-20-30%, and the flavour profile shifted a TON. We’re talking barely recognisable. under 0.2ml (so 20% reduction from baseline), the lavender (yes, lavender is part of the cola flavour ensemble!) started coming through real strong. Upping the coriander/cilantro oil from 0.02ml to 0.03ml shifted it into an incredibly spicy range - you could literally top it up with white rum and people would think you used spiced rum! Or reducing the amount of nutmeg to increase the warmth of the drink - with the slightly higher cassia oil ratio, and reduced nutmeg, this ventured into a hot choc drink made of Terry’s Choc Orange… Without the creaminess of the chocolate.
I’ve also experimented with about a dozen different citrus oils - bitter orange, sweet orange, bitter orange leaf, mandarin, tangerine, the list goes on. And they all subtly changed the flavour, like the transition between coke and pepsi. You can’t put your finger on it at first, because the main cola flavour - the same you’d get from any cola drink, including the cheap supermarket brand ones - was there, but the subtle background flavours were all so different, and again, they’re so dilute, you can’t name them proper. Just guess on what makes it different.
Hope I instilled some curiosity. Honestly it’s not even that expensive to get started with (you can get food grade oils for about $40, then all you need is gum arabic, citric acid, sweeteners and E150 for colour, and finally vanilla for a final touch), unless you want to go real fancy with adjustable pipettes and such.
The recipes are all down to ratios of the oils, so if you do begin to experiment I recommend:
making a big batch of the base syrup (sugar, citric acid, water, vanilla, lime juice, E150, etc.) as this doesn’t change much, but ingredients can be fine-tuned at the end
making small batches of the “7X” mix (the Cube-Cola recipe actually calls for minuscule amounts, we’re talking down to 0.05ml, so use that as a starting point and shift the ratios for the Pemberton recipe), mixing it with the gum arabic (again use the Cube-Cola recipe for ratios, this is basically to make the oils water soluble without using alcohol)
taste test the batches, and make sure you take very strict notes (scientific method comes into play, as you will be most likely mixing 6-8 variants like I did, keeping meticulous notes as to what you changed compared to previous recipes helps honing in the right flavour)
start with pure white crystal sugar for sweetening - various sweeteners have after-tastes or the commercial variants have additives that cause foaming or separation, so before you go sugar-free, tune in the flavour you want, then experiment with sweeteners.
if you can get some, try phosphoric acid instead of citric acid - much more sour and has lesser health effects, meaning you can use 1/10-1/20 as much.
neroli oil is kinda spenny but worth the money given how little you can put into the mix and still have a strong effect on the flavour.
Do NOT go overboard with the lavender oil. In fact go super duper careful with it because one minor spill and it WILL stick around on your clothes, skin, mouth, kitchen tiles, everything, for weeks.
same goes for cassia oil. Be very, very, very careful, unless you want to smell like you’re sticking entire cinnamon sticks up your arse.
an adjustable pipette costs about $30, but is immensely helpful. I ended up getting a 1ml with 0.001ml stepping and a 5ml with 0.025ml stepping. Tips are cheap, and easily connected/ejected as these pipettes are designed for lab use, so you can ideally dispose of the tips without contaminating anything else. Which is important because of the previous two points.
Mix in a tall glass. For the gum arabic mixture and beyond I recommend using a small motorised milk frother (it’s like, $5), as that fucker needs lots of work to dissolve.
careful with heat exposure. The gum arabic base (gum arabic + water mixture before adding the oils), and the base syrup (water and sugar) can take the heat, but the flavourings - let it be the vanilla, the 7x mix, or even the caffeine citrate - can’t. Make sure that everything is room temp when mixing the latter or dealing with a mixture containing them. I once overheated the 7X mix with the milk frother by accident, and it turned out to be the most disgusting, bitterest juice straight from Satan’s asshole.
I think I’ve gotten all the generic advice down I can. I do have a bunch of notes tucked away somewhere, I’ll try to find them!
Also this. There is definitely room for better colas out there. I quite like the cola in Jameson Irish Raw Cola highball cans (the zero sugar ones). No idea if it would be good without the alcohol though!
I’ve actually been making various cola recipes in the meth lab I call a kitchen for the past ~2 years now, ranging from the leaked 1950s Coke recipe, Cube Cola, OpenCola, and a number of other variations, including my own sets.
In these experimentations I’ve started noticing the actual flavour differences between different colas. The issue is that these flavours are not something you’d recognise as they’re incredibly diluted. For example one recipe calls for a total of 15 MILLILITRES of various flavour oils, to make approximately 70-80 LITRES of cola. Yes you read that right, about half Oz of flavourings (sugar not included) to make 37-40 bottles of 64oz cola. In comparison, when I made my orange soda, I had to use approximately 60ml of flavourings to make TWO litres. 2oz of flavourings to make one bottle of 64oz orange soda.
And it’s insane how just a slight imbalance can alter the flavour. This recipe I mentioned calls for 0.7ml (about 6 drops) of cassia oil (basically, cinnamon). The cassia oil I sourced was so pure that that amount waaaay overpowered the other flavours and I had to tone it down to 0.25ml, nearly 1/3. Mind you that cinnamon coke wasn’t bad, just… incredibly cinnamony. Great for a bourbon mixer, pretty solid for a Long Island, but in itself it was just too strong.
Once I made it right I started experimenting, reducing it by 10-20-30%, and the flavour profile shifted a TON. We’re talking barely recognisable. under 0.2ml (so 20% reduction from baseline), the lavender (yes, lavender is part of the cola flavour ensemble!) started coming through real strong. Upping the coriander/cilantro oil from 0.02ml to 0.03ml shifted it into an incredibly spicy range - you could literally top it up with white rum and people would think you used spiced rum! Or reducing the amount of nutmeg to increase the warmth of the drink - with the slightly higher cassia oil ratio, and reduced nutmeg, this ventured into a hot choc drink made of Terry’s Choc Orange… Without the creaminess of the chocolate.
I’ve also experimented with about a dozen different citrus oils - bitter orange, sweet orange, bitter orange leaf, mandarin, tangerine, the list goes on. And they all subtly changed the flavour, like the transition between coke and pepsi. You can’t put your finger on it at first, because the main cola flavour - the same you’d get from any cola drink, including the cheap supermarket brand ones - was there, but the subtle background flavours were all so different, and again, they’re so dilute, you can’t name them proper. Just guess on what makes it different.
I envy how much time you seem to have haha. Your comment was an education. Cheers!
What leaked 1950s recipe? I don’t see one here… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_formula
It was the Pemberton recipe, not sure why I remembered 1950s though!
It sounds really interesting, BTW. Thanks for the writeup!
Hope I instilled some curiosity. Honestly it’s not even that expensive to get started with (you can get food grade oils for about $40, then all you need is gum arabic, citric acid, sweeteners and E150 for colour, and finally vanilla for a final touch), unless you want to go real fancy with adjustable pipettes and such.
The recipes are all down to ratios of the oils, so if you do begin to experiment I recommend:
I think I’ve gotten all the generic advice down I can. I do have a bunch of notes tucked away somewhere, I’ll try to find them!
Also this. There is definitely room for better colas out there. I quite like the cola in Jameson Irish Raw Cola highball cans (the zero sugar ones). No idea if it would be good without the alcohol though!