You’ve probably heard that Coca-Cola started out as a cocaine-laced beverage, but 20 years before the tooth-rotting pop was a twinkle in Dr Pemberton’s eye, another stimulating drink was taking the world by storm. And celebrities of the day couldn’t get enough.
Vin Mariani was the creation of a French chemist named Angelo Mariani. In 1863, Mariani read a paper on the potential of a little-studied South American plant called coca. Sensing the lucrative potential of this plant, the eagle-eyed chemist set to work creating a tonic that would “restore health and vitality” to all who drank. Unsurprisingly, the lively combination was a massive hit. The ethanol in the wine acted as a solvent, drawing cocaine out of the coca leaves and into the end product. What’s more, when consumed together, alcohol and cocaine form a third chemical compound, called cocaethylene, which produces a much stronger buzz. There is a reason you’ll find empty baggies in pub and club toilets across the country.
After becoming the talk of Paris, the popularity of Vin Mariani spread rapidly across the globe. So successful was the product, that it began picking up endorsements from a raft of society’s most influential names. The inventor Thomas Edison, who famously claimed he never slept for more than 4 hours, was a big fan. Author Jules Verne declared it ‘wonderful’. Bartholdi, the sculptor behind the Statue of Liberty, claimed the drink was ‘precious’. Even Queen Victoria, famous for her use of cannabis, was said to be a fan, as were countless presidents, czars, and military leaders.
Perhaps the most striking praise came from Vin Mariani’s endorsement by not one, but two Popes. Pop…
