Cola I
Cola is a type of soda that consists of flavors derived from citrus fruits and spices. The word "cola" derives from kola nuts, a plant originating in West Africa. Older cola recipes often contained this nut as a source of caffeine, but most modern recipes do not contain kola nuts. This recipe has been modified from one by Flavorlab. Note that consuming high levels of caffeine can be very dangerous. If you are scaling the recipe up or down, make sure you scale the caffeine accordingly so that the per-serving caffeine amount stays the same or is lower.
Ingredients
- ½ ea. lemon, peel removed
- ½ ea. orange, peel removed
- 14 dried makrut lime leaves
- 25 mg caffeine (optional)
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) powdered cinnamon
- 1 tsp (5 ml) powdered nutmeg
- 1 tsp (5 ml) coriander seed
- 5 tbsp (75 ml) water
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 5 tsp (25 ml) strained fresh lime juice
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) finely powdered citric acid
- ¼ cup (60 ml) white sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) white sugar
- Carbonated water, as needed
Ingredients for 6 servings (755 g) · the original recipe
Method
- 1
Chop the lemon and orange peels into small pieces.
- 2
Combine the peels, lime leaves, caffeine, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, and 5 tbsp (75 ml) water in a mortar. Use the pestle to crush and grind everything together, ensuring that everything is well-blended to extract the flavors.
- 3
Transfer the ground mixture to a saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat.
Stovetop - 4
Strain the mixture, then combine it with the 1 cup water, lime juice, and citric acid. Set aside.
- 5
Transfer the ¼ cup (60 ml) sugar into a heavy saucepan. Carefully melt it over medium heat, making sure the entire mixture heats evenly and doesn't burn. Cook the sugar until caramelized.
Stovetop - 6
Carefully stir the citrus mixture into the caramelized sugar, watching out for splatters, until it is homogenized.
- 7
Stir in the 1 cup (240 ml) sugar, and boil until it becomes a viscous and honey-like syrup of approximately 1¼ cup (300 ml) in volume. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Stovetop - 8
To make the finished soda, combine 1 volume of syrup with 5 volumes of carbonated water.
Recipe from Wikibooks Cookbook, written by Wikibooks contributors. Used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; the ingredient list and method on this page are taken from that page and edited (its notes, tips and variations are not reproduced), and are available under the same licence. The macros, equipment tags and scaling are Ma Kitchen’s own and are not the source’s figures. Ma Kitchen is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wikibooks Cookbook. Copied on 2026-11-12.
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