WAS COCA COLA INVENTED IN VALENCIA, SPAIN ?

[SODAPOPBOB]

6pack ~

Thanks again. I really appreciate it. Pretty soon we'll have this thing solved. But one of us may have to go to Spain to acomplish that. And since I can't go, that leaves you! Lol

I gave up trying to find the museum. No link or anything that I could find. I'm not even sure what it's called, other than it's supposed to be in Aielo. I tried various searches but the results were zilch! Although I did send out some e-mail inquires to a few people who might know. Hopefully I will hear back from them soon.

I'll be back!

SPBOB

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I almost forgot! I found this on one of the Coca Cola sites ...

Not surprisingly, the Coca-Cola historian in Atlanta, Phil Mooney, begs to differ.

"We have had, at various points in time, claims from places like Scotland and India that the formula originated there," he said in a phone interview. "One of the great things about having a secret recipe is that these sorts of stories pop up periodically."

This isn't the first time Coke has been the object of a public radio investigation. Last February, Ira Glass and "This American Life" claimed that the program discovered the recipe on page 2B of the Feb. 18, 1979, edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I did a crazy thing and just sent an e-mail to that town's official website. But first I went to one of those online English to Spanish translation dictionaries and composed my message. Then I copied and pasted it to my e-mail. I hope it goes through okay and they don't think I'm an idiot. I've never sent an e-mail overseas. It's kind of exciting. Basically I just said I was from America and that I was looking for information or a link to their Kola Coca museum. I will let you know if/when I hear back from them. Here's what the message looked like that I sent them ...

Estoy en América y en busca de una conexión de sitio Web para su Museo de Coca Kola. U otra información sobre ella. ¿Por favor me puedes ayudar? Mi dirección de correo electrónico es Por favor escribirme en inglés si es posible.

Gracias.

Bob

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. ~

I was curious and just checked to see what time it is in Spain right now. It's 4:30 PM Pacific Time here, and 1:30 AM in the morning there. I hope I didn't wake anybody up! Lol

Bob

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

~ Summarization to Date / Subject to Correction Later ~

Note of related interest: As most of us know by now, it isn't just antique-bottles.net members who have access to our threads. Anyone in the world can link to them via Google depending on their particular word searches. For example; When "Coca Cola Invented In Spain" is entered, Google presently generates 32 pages of results at 10 per page - totalling 320 individual options on the subject. Of course by the time you get to about page five, the options are less specific. Currently this thread is on page one in the 10th option slot. I mention this because this discussion of ours should be around for some time and may very well be the most detailed one currently available. Thus, to all non members I say, thanks for stopping by. If you have information on this topic, pleas feel free to share it with us.

~ * ~

~ Summarization ~

1. The correct name of the town is ... Aielo de Malferit, Spain.
2. Valencia Province.
3. Population: 4,500.
4. Elevation: 900 feet
5. Appx. 20 miles inland from the coast.
6. Language: Spanish/Catalan
7. Individual who claims his great-great uncle invented original formula in 1884: 72 year old Juan Jo
Mica.
8. Juan was/is current owner of distilled product: "Licor Nuez de Kola" - Same/similar syrup base as
Coca Cola.
9. Juan claims someone from the Coca Cola company went to Aielo, Spain in 1953 to "buy" patent
from his great-great uncle. (No known documentation of this that I am aware of).
10. No known recognition of this by the Coca Cola Company that I am aware of. If asked, I suspect
the Coca Cola Company would deny it as being true.
11. I seriously doubt anyone will ever fully solve this mystery unless it does happen to be true and the
Coca Cola Company comes forward with some form of admition - which I doubt will ever occur.
12. Bottom Line? This mystery is over 100 years old and will likely remain a mystery for another 100
years!

For the time being I will continue to research this subject as best I can and record any findings here as I, and hopefully others, uncover them. Currently I am waiting to hear from the town hall people of Aielo in response to an e-mail I sent them yesterday inquiring about a supposed museum operated by the "Licor Nuez de Kola" company.

I'll be back - And thanks again to everyone who participated and took an interest in the discussion.

SODAPOPBOB

[ Aielo de Malferit, Spain ] [ The domed church in the upper right is their most popular building ]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I found this which is described ...

PAL (JEAN DE PALEOLOGUE). [/b][/i][/u]KOLA-COCA - POSTER. Circa 1900.[/i][/u]
62" x 42" inches. Caby & Chardin, Paris.

But it's from Paris, France and has a different label on the bottle. Is this related to the company in Aielo, Spain for their product sold in France, or just another rip-off? I don't know either!

 

[OsiaBoyce]

Rip off, when one uses coca leaves and kola nuts as ingredients. Then incorperates said ingredients into the product name, there's not a whole lot to work w/ or many ways to arrange the wording.

As far as the rest of the story.....................never belive a local legend, especially one this ridiculous.

I mean to start w/........................................

 

[fishnuts]

IMHO and in a nutshell: No.

None of these sources even come close to mentioning if Pemberton ever went to Spain, or France. None mention if he ever tried this liquer. For that is what it is...made in a distillery as the article says was formed by the three friends, it is not a wine or a brew, it is a liquor or liqueur.

If Pemberton tried this cola flavored liqueur (which we'll never know), I'd reckon his mind might have run along the lines of, "This tastes good. I wonder if I can make a non-alcoholic version to sell in Atlanta. That might really be popular." He was a druggist and it wouldn't have been difficult for him to reverse engineer ingredients in order to duplicate the flavor for his soda fountain. Or come close. Hmmm...some coca, some cola and some sugar.
I love to cook. I have been trying to duplicate a particular Red Bell Pepper Cream sauce that I get in Eureka Springs every time I go but that doesn't mean all red bell pepper cream sauces are the same, originate from that one or that they are copies of the one in Eureka. Or that the Eureka sauce originated anywhere specifically.
Wouldn't, then, all cola soft drinks be borne of that same Spanish liqueur? Pepsi, Chero, hundreds of cola syrup recipes, ad infinitum...and you see how silly that sounds. Or maybe you don't. Maybe the Spaniards recipe more closely resembles Pal Cola, or Cleo Cola or Cola Cocktail. Nah! That wouldn't sound so reactionary.
The speculation that Coca Cola came from Spain is just as ridiculous as saying that raspberry sodas originated from chambord or that orange sodas originated from cointreau or curacao since the liqueurs all predate fruit flavored soda waters...
And, maybe they did. But we (you) have zero evidence to connect Pemberton to that distillery product except an 'old wives tale'. But I give you credit in your ability to take a story and run with it although it would be nice if you had a destination, eh.
Agreeing with osia regarding naming the product...how many soft drinks out there use cola and not mention cola in their brand? Few & far between.

 

[surfaceone]

If Pemberton tried this cola flavored liqueur (which we'll never know), I'd reckon his mind might have run along the lines of, "This tastes good. I wonder if I can make a non-alcoholic version to sell in Atlanta.

Hello Grant,

Have a look at This Poster for Kola-Coca. "...in this case that like would be the company of a flounced temptress and her chalice of Kola-Coca, the refreshing pause from the everyday tipple made without alcohol, essential oils or bitters, deemed so superior as to be categorized "beyond competition" at every exposition."

 

[OsiaBoyce]

It was raining that morning in Philadelphia as Old Doc Pemberton waited in the shadows of the Ferris Wheel. For some reason it reminded him of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. As he paced back and forth muttering something about Spainards, cocaine and some kind of nuts a small man w/ an 1800s Euro Trash flair appeared.

"Senor' Mica?" the old man ask as he eyed the newcomer, hoping to see the bottle of the product he intended to steal. To many hours he had spent slaving over pots and potions trying to come up with the perfect elixer. Now here it was, ripe for the taking. He knew what he had to do and was prepared to do it.

Lie. That's how he was going to get it. No one will not and must ever know how the worlds most popular soft drink to come was actually developed in SPAIN instead of an Atlanta pharmacy.

It was a devious plan w/ a truly reprobate cast...............................................