Comment by lobster_johnson | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lobster_johnson | Hacker News Reader

lobster_johnson

I love this recipe. I make it now and then so that I have a glass of syrup in the fridge that I can mix with carbonated water from a cartridge system.

(For a while we had the cola on tap in the office via a carbonator, alongside a colleague's home-brewed beer. It was very popular.)

I easily prefer this recipe to commercial Coca-Cola. On the one hand, it does lack a certain something that Coca-Cola has, and I attribute this mainly to the fact that I don't use any coca-leaf extract; you can get this online, and it ultimately comes from the same source as Coca-Cola uses, but I haven't bothered.

But on the other hand, it just tastes better. Fresher and more vibrant. Very different from off-the-shelf cola syrups such as SodaStream's. It's closer to a "indie" cola like Fentimans or Boylan's. My hypothesis is that Coca-Cola's current "natural aroma" ingredients are no longer natural essential oils, but synthesized versions of these, although I have not been able to confirm this.

It's illegal to possess cocoa leaves and extracts of cocoa leaves in the United States of America without a DEA license or prescription. [1]

[1] http://www.erowid.org/plants/coca/coca_law.shtml

I am talking about denatured ("decocanized") leaves and leaf extract. In the US, these are ultimately from Stepan, who is the sole American company authorized by the DEA to import and process cocoa leaves. This is coincidentally the company that Coca-Cola buys their denatured coca leaves from.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company

Thanks for the clarification. I've Googled around and can't find any decocanized sources online. Seems like it would be an interesting business opportunity for someone in South America. I bet Coca-Cola would find some way to put a lot of pressure on you, though.

There is this [1] source. Apparently it's intended for weight-control supplements [2]. Unfortunately, it's $1,000 per kilogram, with a minimum order of 5 kg.

It's possible that coca tea would work. [3]

[1] http://www.macoca.com/

[2] http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Suppliers2/Decocainized-...

[3] http://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-key...

[4] Hacker News really needs to get Markdown link syntax.

Just in case you don't know, cocoa and coca are two very different plants. Cocoa (or cacao) is the one chocolate comes from, and I'm pretty sure you can own leafs of that.

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