In the ancient pharmacy of the San Marco monastery in Florence, a document was found containing a recipe for a 19th-century healing elixir, which included coca leaves and kola nuts – the same ingredients later used to create the precursor to Coca-Cola. This was reported by Yle, writes UNN.
Details
The document, which remained hidden for over a century, was discovered during the organization of the monastery's historical archive. The find was reported by the local newspaper Toscana Oggi and several other Italian media outlets.
According to historical reconstruction, American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton used coca leaves and kola nuts a few years later to create his "French wine cola," which later became the basis for the Coca-Cola drink.
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At the same time, there is currently no documentary evidence of a direct link between the Florentine recipe and the future drink.
The recipe was discovered while working with the monastery's archives
The yellowed document from the mid-19th century was found by the prior of the San Marco monastery, Father Manuel Russo, while researching the archives.
"I began to study the documents kept in the monastery and discovered that this was one of the most popular items in the monks' pharmacy,"
In the document, the elixir is described as a tonic remedy intended to help with physical and mental fatigue, headaches, and weakness. The recipe called for the use of 30 grams of kola nuts and 10 grams of Bolivian coca leaves, infused in a liter of an alcohol mixture. According to researchers' assumptions, these ingredients reached Italy thanks to missionaries from Latin America and Africa.