Coca-cola (I promise this is related)

Coke was invented in 1886, Fallen london takes place 14 years later, idk about Sunless Seas and Skies, but I know they take place around this time, so. Who drinks it? Was it brought to the neath yet?
Edit: Should I email FBG?

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Howard Candler brought a jug of Coca-Cola syrup to London in the year 1900 in our world, marking the first time Coke entered England. Since 1900 has never arrived and will never arrive, Coca-Cola will sadly never be available to neath-dwellers. They also never opened international bottling plants until about the 1940s, so that doesn’t bode well either.

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I mean, It did on the surface, we’re on the second 1899, But what about sunless skies

I am pretty sure that in the Sunless timeline, London takes to the High Wilderness in 1907. With the prevalence of the Great Game in London, I think that we can safely assume that a spy stole Howard Candler’s famous jug of Coca-Cola syrup, or at least found the formula back in 1900. So, the Coca-Cola formula is probably floating around as a highly secret recipe. Then, a Fallen London PC completed the newly added Ambition: Cola! (FBG take notes) with the ending that involves working with The Coca-Cola Company to open the first Neathy bottling plant, which was presumably brought into the High Wilderness along with London, and continues to quench the thirst of Albion to this day. Or we could go with the boring route and say that, since there is no indication that the USA has reached the High Wilderness, Coca-Cola remains unavailable to Londoners.

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I’m sure either Murgatroyd or F.F. Gebrandt stole cough bought the formula and is selling the stuff already.

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FBG take notes, we have a new Ambition (Or living world event/Summer event)

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New (Better) version of Laudanum just dropped, F.F Gebrandt’s Coca-Cola

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Cola syrups/sodas were called such because they contain(ed) the Kola nut—a seed from an African evergreen tree with a high caffeine content which was introduced to Europe/England during the Scramble For Africa (1870-1914) and incorporated into a number of “health tonics” and other medicinal products. The original adverts for Coca-cola explicitly touted the “invigorating” effects of the Kola plant as a medicinal benefit of the drink.

And then the Coca part of Coca-Cola’s name, of course, comes from its inclusion of Coca leaves (guess what these contain!). Coca-cola syrup was predated by a number of years by coca based “tonic wines” such as Vin Mariani (1860’s) which were touted as improving ones appetite, strength, energy, vitality, etc.

All of which is to say that while we can’t prove or disprove that coca-cola specifically was for sale at Fallen London’s pharmacies, it seems fairly safe to say that products containing both coca plant and kola nut were. And the language used to advertise such products points to F.F. Gebrandt’s Tincture of Vigour as the most likely suspect

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Tincture of Vigour? I thought it was Tincture of VICARS!

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I do like the idea that the Traitor Empress delayed 1900 purely to avoid the emergence of coke. Mr Fizzy will not be postponed indefinitely.

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But it isn’t coca-cola because it lacks sugar and carbonation

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okay, the scheme of the phoenix plotline told us that American industrialists enter the neath somewhat often, so, it’s not unlikely that one of them works for coca-cola, and made neathy coke

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I’m looking forward to Dark-dewed Cherry Coca-Cola!

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I think you’ll find what you know as coca-cola isn’t that because it lacks cocaine (AKA the signature ingredient).

Since this is still Victorian Times and Coca Cola definitely still had actual coke I imagine if it was a Sustenance item in FL it would probably give actions, substantially increase Wounds, and increase Nightmares

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Sounds canon to me! I appreciate this story. And yes, cherry is definitely the best flavor.