Cola: The Sable Nectar

by Maister Iago ab Adam
(Michael Case, yagowe{AT}shaw.ca)
copyright 2001, all rights reserved

History

For the next millenium this is how things remained; occasional literary references, but no recipes or descriptions. Then, in the 14th century, Sable Nectar guilds started to appear across Europe.[3] The two major centers of production were Coca, in Spain, and Paupisi, in Italy. Because of their fame, cola from these towns became a luxury item, and only the richest people in Europe could serve Paupisi Cola or the Cola of Coca[4]. For a brief period of time the Roman Catholic church tried to get involved in this lucrative business, but R.C. Cola just never caught on, despite threats of eternal damnation. The less affluent members of society were not left out though, as every major town had a Cola makers guild. In England this is evidenced by the popularity of the surnames 'Cole', 'Coleman', 'Colegate' (one who lived near the gate of the Cola guild-hall), and 'Colebourne' (one who was born near a vat of Cola)[5].

Another example of Cola's popularity in England is the following passage from Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (Penguin Translation)[6]: "And Guinevere came before her lord husband Arthur, and with a kiss gave him a large frothy tankard of Cola. And from the back of the hall Launcelot was heard to say 'I'll have what he's having'".

Re-Creation

The recipe itself appears to be a copy of an earlier recipe, as it is dated 1619. It is badly ink-stained, but here is what I was able to make out:

To make good cola (circa 1619)
"Take of raine water halfe a pynte, a pynte
of w.......ne halfe a pynte of wi.......er
m.........toget..r, then take ............
ga..........en ... powde....+ sifte....put
all .........r i.. a pott +  put to it a         (5)
pynte o.......ne v.......+ water then take
f..ur...ounce of gre...........s beaten to
...wder ..it it in a pot ..........lfe wth
...fe a pynte of ye liquo.. 4 ounce .....m
....bec als powdred put it ....to a thirde       (10)
pott, then close in ye 3 potts ....t them
stand 3 or 4 days, stir them da.... 3 or 4
tymes a day, then let the pott of .....les
stand on a fire till it begin s.....+ stir
it in ye cooleing.  Then put ye ......s in       (15)
ye other potts to it wth  a little b....te +
stir them well together evry day for . or
foure days + then make use of it."
             "Tho. baltisinol"
                   "for Thou"

• Line 2. I substituted sp..........le for the wi..........er, as wi..........er was to expensive, and sp..........le has a similar texture.
• Line 7. I used ast..............s instead of gre..............s, because the gre..............s is extinct, and the ast..............s is it's closest living relative.
• Line 14. I used the stove instead of a fire, because ever since the 'Incident', I'm not allowed to play with fire.

The label on the bottle is my attempt at reconstructing the mark of the Cola Guild of Coca, based on descriptions in contemporary writings[7].

[2]Dictionary, John Q. The Dictionary, Dictionary, Ohio: Dictionary Press, 1985.

[3]Onymous, Anne. "The Rise of the Cola-Guild in 14th C. Europe." The Journal of Stuff No One Cares About, March, 1956, pp 1066-1298.

[4]Spokesmodel, Famous "The Paupisi Challenge: A Comparative Study of the Products of the Guilds of Sable Nectar from the Towns of Coca, Spain, and Paupisi, Italy." Anytown: Bubba's Printing, 1991.

[5]Alias, A.K.A. The Oxford Dictionary of Phony English Names. Oxford University Press, 1982.

[6]Malory, Thomas. Le Morte d'Arthur; translated by Willy the Wonder Penguin. San Diego: SeaWorld Publishing, 1979.

[7]Ok, I Don't. Actually Have Any, documentation For This Part; But Like Anyone: Actually Reads Footnotes, Anyway.