Why are cola drinks dyed that carmel-brown color? I know why they do it now (because that’s what people have come to expect), but why did Coke (or whoever) decide on that artificial color in the first place?
A WAG but maybe the original Coca Cola was either cloudy, off color, or had particles in its natural appearance. The dark coloring may have been to hide this.
Coca-Cola was named back in 1885 for its two “medicinal” ingredients: extract of coca leaves and kola nuts. This came in (and still does) a syrup form, to which carbonated soda was added at the soda fountains. Cola nuts make the syrup brown.
Carpe Jugulum
Cola nuts, hmm? Are those people who are simply crazy about the flavor of “malted battery acid”?
Your Quadell
“Some people will go out of their way for the taste of RC”
Mmmmmm…acid-ey!
Now there’s nothing unexpected about the water giving out; “Land” is not a word we have to shout.
That answer was only correct until 1886, when Coca-Cola was being re-formulated as a soft drink rather than a medicinal, which was its original purpose. The inventors found that the extract of the kola nut was too bitter to use in any appreciable quantity. If it was too bitter, people would not want to drink it as a soft drink. The kola nut provided the necessary caffeine.
Therefore, they started using powdered caffeine, which did not color the liquid at all. The powdered caffeine was still a bit bitter, so they added a lot of sugar. To cut the sweetness, they added citric acid. Caramel color was added, so that it would look like the original Coca-cola, which was brown because of the kola-nut extract.
Of course, as the OP said, it remains brown because we are used to it. There is no real good reason for “cola” as we know it to be brown. Remember “Crystal Cola” by Snapple?
[cite: Frederick Allen’s Secret Formula: How Brilliant Marketing and Relentless Salesmanship made Coca-Cola the Best-Known Product in the World.]
Oh, and Little Nemo is correct, too. It was common in the late 19th century to use caramel color to mask the impurites in patent medicines and other products. The early Coca-cola producers were more than happy to take advantage of this additional benefit.
My mother said that syrup of coca cola was used to clean the soda fountain in her dad’s drug store. Must have made the place smell better than if you’d used Top Job or something like that.
Knowing tha she used to give us chipped ice with syrup of coca cola when we were suffering of nausea. I guess it helped because she kept doing it.
I have often wondered what was in it to make it good to drink, clean the soda fountain and stop nausea? And you’re just wondering about the color!
Jois
Are you driving with your eyes open or are you using The Force? - A. Foley
:standing corrected:
Carpe Jugulum
Little Nemo and Green Bean are correct in nailing the early reason for the color of Coca Cola…which I assume would influence over 100 years of wannabes.
The reason for the color is mentioned in snopes…here:
http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/green.htm
Well, I know that Coke can clean your car windshield in a pinch. Also, when I worked at McDonald’s people would pay in the drive-thru with that nasty, gunked-up change they pried from the bottom of their change tray. We just took the sticky mess and dropped it into a cup of Coke and in an hour or so, all the sticky gunk was gone and we could put the change in with the rest. That is one of the only useful things I learned by working in fast food.
I always try to do things in chronological order.
That’s ironic, evilbeth. The nasty, sticky gunk on the bottom of my change tray is usually from spilled cokes.
I remember 7-Up ads in the seventies where Geoffrey Holder touted the un-cola because it didn’t use kola nut. It was all a sham. I’m crushed.
Not entirely. If I am not mistaken, there is a still a miniscule amount of kola-nut extract in Coca-cola. Ya know, a homeopathic dose… 
Hats off, gentlemen! A “Bloom County” reference is among us.
Cave Diem! Carpe Canem!
That is strange, isn’t it? But it really does work!
I always try to do things in chronological order.