[lobster_johnson]

I make my own cola based on the OpenCola recipe [1]. The end product tastes better -- fresher, richer, more interesting -- than ordinary Coca-Cola. I use cane sugar, but then that's nothing novel to me since I'm in Europe where most sodas are made with cane sugar.

I investigated kola nut as part of the process, and kola nut is simply not what I have been assuming all these years. The powdered form of the kola nut has an awful, bitter taste that is nothing like the "cola" taste. Rather, the main source of Coca-Cola's "bite" comes from the acid component. Some of it may perhaps also come from the caffeine and/or processed cocoa leaves.

Also, I have not seen any recipe (including the purported original recipe by Pemberton) that uses kola nut.

[1] http://www.colawp.com/colas/400/cola467_recipe.html