(Roughly) Daily

Bio-hazard!  Economic turmoil!  Mass emigration!…  How a tiny insect caused mass migration, the great French wine blight, and almost rid the world of wine forever….

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[TotH to 10 Zen Monkeys]

Special bonus:  “What does ancient wine taste like?”

*Benjamin Franklin

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As we own up to oenophilia, we might recall that it was on this date in 1886 that Coca Cola was concocted in an Atlanta, Georgia backyard as a “brain tonic” that could cure hangovers, stomach aches and headaches.  The original formula included caffeine and five ounces of coca leaf (from which cocaine is derived) per gallon. The creator, pharmacist John Pemberton, took his syrup a few doors down to Jacobs’ Pharmacy, where he mixed it with carbonated water and shared it with customers. The pharmacy began marketing it on May 8 as a patent medicine for 5¢ a glass. It spread first through the other Jacobs outlets in Atlanta, and then around the world.

“The valuable tonic and nerve stimulant properties of the coca plant and cola nuts . . .”

– John Pemberton

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Pemberton

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