[Sca-cooks] SPICED RUM!?!

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Alex Clark:
>At 09:57 AM 3/20/2004 -0600, Bear wrote:
>>Rum has usually been mixed with something "else."  Think rum punch, buttered
>>rum, etc.  Rum and coke is a traditional knock off of the Cuba Libre that
>>came to popularity with the expatriate crowd in Havana during prohibition.
>>A proper Cuba Libre is 2-3 ounces of Coca Cola, juice and rind of 1 lime, 1
>>ounce of rum, 1/2 ounce of gin, and a dash or two of bitters.  Originally it
>>was an exotic cocktail with a cocaine kick (if the tales of the original
>>ingredients of Coke are to be believed).
>
>According to Barbara Mikkelson, by the prohibition era there was 
>only a token trace of cocaine left in the Coca-Cola formula, and 
>that was removed in 1929. (Homeopaths may inflate the significance 
>of this fact in accordance with their superstitions.)
>
>http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/cocaine.asp

What the Snopes article fails to make clear, but which I've read 
someplace (trying to remember where) is that the coca extract that 
was apparently one of the original ingredients of Coca-Cola is the 
residue left when coca leaves are processed and the cocaine removed. 
There may or may not be traces of actual cocaine left, and there 
probably are related alkaloid molecules, some perhaps with a 
stimulant effect.

But overall, the responsibility of translating "Coca-Cola once 
contained some amount of coca extract" into "Coca-Cola contains 
cocaine" is roughly akin to saying "Tiramisu contains caffeine, even 
when it is made from decaffeinated coffee." Technically, true.

Adamantius