Coca-Cola’s First Pour

As the temperance movement gained traction and Prohibition laws hit Georgia in 1886, John Stith Pemberton was forced to adapt. His original medicinal tonic, Pemberton’s French Wine Coca, which contained alcohol, could no longer be sold legally. Determined not to abandon his creation, Pemberton reformulated the syrup, removing the wine but preserving the coca leaf and kola nut essence, creating a non-alcoholic version that retained its invigorating qualities.

On May 8, 1886, armed with a…