The Secret Deal That Coca-Cola Has With The DEA Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
By Cody Copeland/Jan. 18, 2021 3:26 pm EDT
In the mid-1800s, a new beverage fad took over the United States and Europe. Coca wine was fortified wine infused with coca leaves, i.e., cocaine. According to
The Drinks Business, the stimulating wine drink initially had the approval of everyone from U.S. presidents to Catholic popes. One such wine was made by a Civil War vet named John Pemberton, who had cooked up his brain tonic as a means to kick the nasty morphine habit he d picked up after being injured in the war. His Pemberton s French Wine Coca also contained an extract of the African kola nut, which is chock-full of caffeine, just to give the cocaine a little kick.