A Mysterious Elixir That May Be The "ancestor" Of Coca-Cola Has Been Discovered In Italy
- 31.07.2026, 7:58
- 1,162
The rector of the San Marco Monastery came across a yellowed document.
An Italian monk discovered a document in the archives of an old Florentine pharmacy containing a recipe for a medicinal elixir made from Bolivian coca leaves and kola nuts, according to The Guardian.
Father Manuel Russo, rector of the San Marco monastery, said he stumbled upon the yellowed document—something like an advertising leaflet—while sorting through the archives.
The document describes a recipe for *elisir vinoso ricostituente* (“restorative wine elixir”): 10 grams of Bolivian coca leaves and 30 grams of kola nuts, mixed with wine. The monks who created this drink sold it as a tonic to help restore physical and mental strength after exhaustion caused by illness or old age.
The document is undated, but it is believed to have been written in the late 19th century—a time when monks were actively trading Bolivian coca leaves that missionaries had brought to Italy. This was long before coca leaves were banned worldwide in 1961 due to their content of a natural alkaloid used to produce cocaine.
The recipe does indeed resemble the one used by the American pharmacist John Pemberton: in 1886, he created a sweet syrup from an extract of coca leaves and kola nuts. Local alcohol laws prevented him from adding wine, so he diluted the ingredients with carbonated water—and that’s how the tonic was born, which later became Coca-Cola.
Upon learning of Russo’s discovery, some local media outlets began to wonder whether the true origins of the famous beverage might lie in Florence rather than in the United States. However, Russo’s father—who also found several empty bottles of the elixir—is in no hurry to jump to conclusions.
“I don’t want to get sued by Coca-Cola or anything like that. Mr. Pemberton invented his own recipe—and an alcohol-free one at that... Besides, at that time, other people were also producing similar medicines from coca leaves. It was quite common in Italy and France. The only thing I can say is that the San Marco pharmacy had its own recipe,” he said.
Another contender for the title of Coca-Cola’s “progenitor” is Kola Coca—an alcoholic syrup produced in 1885 by distillers in Valencia, Spain.
Other documents found by Russo showed that the elixir made by Florentine monks, which cost between 2 and 6 Italian lire (less than a cent at today’s exchange rate), was wildly popular among customers.
The San Marco Monastery was founded in 1436 in Florence, and its pharmacy opened in 1460 to serve the poor in the neighborhood. According to Russo, the pharmacy—"one of the most beautiful things in our monastery"—is still in operation today, although it was relocated to another part of the city in 1995.
The original premises have been preserved in their entirety, including a stuffed crocodile brought from the Nile, which has been hanging from the ceiling since the 1600s. In the 19th century, European apothecaries often hung crocodiles and other reptiles from the ceilings of their shops—this was their way of showing customers that they had access to rare, exotic ingredients.
Rousseau also found labels for pure oxygen, cognac, and rectified petroleum alcohol.
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