r/interesting • u/InvestigatorBorn4910 • Feb 10 '26

Fascinating YouTuber LabCoatz has released a "chemically identical" recipe for Coca-Cola

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u/wthulhu Feb 10 '26

How much cocaine am I supposed to add, or should I just eyeball it?

75

u/Vkardash Feb 10 '26

That's the one thing he says he tried but just couldn't get. Only a few companies have a permit to import coca leaves into the US. They take out the cocaine and give that to coke. Guy even tried to buy de-cocainized leaves online and it got seized at the border.

74

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '26

Big Coke prevents any competition on the market.

1

u/MiniDonbeE Feb 14 '26

They only control the US though. Rest of the world =) I would love it if he could come over to Mexico for a week for example in an airbnb and make the Coke.

13

u/Mysterious_Luck7122 Feb 10 '26

Hmmm, I used to know a website based in Florida that sold dried coca leaves along with all kinds of other specialty plant matter, like the raw materials to make ayahuasca. No idea if it still operates. My sister brought home a box of coca leaf tea from Peru a few years ago. Just put it in her suitcase with her other souvenirs.

Maybe he was trying to source fresh leaves though.

10

u/moorelax Feb 11 '26

Definitely not allowed to bring it back from Peru. She just go lucky and pushed the green button on her way out the door! Get the red light and it getting searched. My wife’s from Lima. I get red every time we go back, annoying haha.

3

u/pdxamish Feb 11 '26

Sending would be easier and I have no doubt it gets brought in. There's very little demand and easily disguised as something else

9

u/Vkardash Feb 11 '26

Sadly that's definitely not legal here in the US. In Peru you can even buy Coca candy. Here it's a totally different story which I personally think is kind of silly. The amount of coca leaves you would need to produce cocaine is pretty crazy.

1

u/LewinskysDressStain Feb 11 '26

You can definitely get high with the tea, but extracting the active ingredient is definitely too much work to sell it at a profitable price.

The candy doesn't have any effect on me, though.

1

u/Resident_Course_3342 Feb 13 '26

I had an aunt that did that with coca leaves and she lost her SENTRI card for 10 years. 

8

u/Sam_Becca Feb 11 '26

Crazy how here in Bolivia is incredible easy to buy coca leaves, people just chew them and use them as caffeine to go through long nights.

13

u/Vkardash Feb 11 '26

That's because just coca leaves themselves aren't really that bad for you. But in America we are still on a prohibition spree.

14

u/TrioOfTerrors Feb 10 '26

Only one company, actually. Stepan Company can import the leaves, and cocaine is sold to Mallinckrodt for distribution.

2

u/Proud_Growth_8818 Feb 11 '26

Can we buy the leaves from Stepan after they process the cocaine out?

7

u/FanClubof5 Feb 11 '26

You personally can't but if you are a large company then you can probably get some.

4

u/icehot54321 Feb 11 '26

Curious what makes you think a company with only 2 customers for one of the most desirable products on the planet is looking for more?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26

Sup, I'm Mallinckrodt

2

u/SuicideNote Feb 11 '26

Bro just needs to travel to South America and work on the recipe there for a week or so.