427: Original Recipe

Host Ira Glass introduces the episode's bold claim: they may have found the original Coca-Cola recipe. The show details Coca-Cola's legendary obsession with secrecy, from removing unlabeled ingredient containers to the myth that only two people know the formula and can't fly on the same plane. This theatrical secrecy, reinforced by commercials and museum exhibits, has turned the recipe into one of the world's most famous trade secrets, making the discovery all the more significant.

• Coca-Cola's founder Asa Candler was so paranoid he personally removed ingredient invoices from company mail to prevent accounting staff from seeing what was purchased
• The formula is allegedly kept in a SunTrust bank vault, though the logic of this conflicts with the two-person rule
• Coca-Cola spends millions on commercials and attractions perpetuating the myth of the impossibly secret formula
• A 1979 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article buried on page 2B published what appears to be the original recipe

The recipe was found in an old pharmacist's book of handwritten formulas that passed through several hands before landing with Everett Beal, a Georgia drugstore owner. The connection makes sense given that Coca-Cola was invented by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886 and originally sold at pharmacy soda fountains. The recipe book's provenance traces back to R.R. Evans, a pharmacist and close friend of Pemberton, who apparently copied the formula into his personal collection.

• The recipe book originally belonged to R.R. Evans, a pharmacist and best friend of Coca-Cola inventor John Pemberton
• After Evans died, the book passed to R.M. Mitchell, then to Mitchell's widow, who gave it to Everett Beal
• The 133-year-old leather-bound book now sits in a bank vault, and the owner wears gloves when handling it
• Everett was unhappy when the newspaper published a photo large enough to read the entire recipe