[dbbolton]

Unless you have access to coca leaves, your recipe is likely to taste like generic cola.

Coca-Cola has special privileges to import raw coca leaves. They extract the cocaine (which is then sold for pharmaceutical use). The mostly-cocaine free extract is then used to flavor their cola. AFAIK Coca-Cola is the only entity in the US allowed to do this, so it is unsurprising that other cola brands taste significantly different.

[the_gipsy]

Do they export all the cocaine-free extract from the US? I can't imagine that they could secure such privileges all over the world.

[colechristensen]

It's hard to find the right information, but there is very limited manufacturing of the pure flavor concentrate which is then exported to bottling factories around the world, the bottling factories add water, sweetener, and carbonation and are generally owned separately.

[billfor]

https://nypost.com/2023/04/01/nj-factory-imports-cocaine-pla...

[wahnfrieden]

So they have regulatory capture to ensure a near monopoly. Terrible

[copperx]

Pepsi doesn't taste the same, but it's a damn good recipe. They don't use coca leaves, right?