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I learned recently about “Vin Mariani” a wine from the 1860s that was fortified with coca leaves and contained 6mg per liquid ounce of the wine; except for the

I learned recently about “Vin Mariani” a wine from the 1860s that was fortified with coca leaves and contained 6mg per liquid ounce of the wine; except for the bottles sold in USA where it was 7.2mg per ounce, because there were other patent medicines that had cocaine in them and the manufacturer added a bit more to be competitive in the market. The Pope of the time loved the stuff and awarded the company a Vatican medal for it.

sekh60 6mo ago
While I love the Internet and all sorts of modern life fixtures (in a developed country), I feel a bit like I missed out by not being alive when all the crazy drinks were around.
- chuckadams 6mo ago
  Probably best to have missed out on radium water.
  - alcasa 6mo ago
    You can still get your Radium Spa treatment in the Czech Republic: https://www.axxoshotels.com/radium-palace-spa https://www.axxoshotels.com/radium-palace-spa
- Gud 6mo ago
  Cocaine is still readily available. Pour yourself a nice glass of wine with some coke on the side?
  - lotsofpulp 6mo ago
    Unadulterated cocaine is not readily available to 99% of people. Who wants to risk getting some fentanyl or whatever else as a layperson wanting to try it?
    - celticninja 6mo ago
      But from reputable sources
      - sincerely 6mo ago
        This comment seems addressed to the portion of the population that both doesn’t know how to safely buy illegal drugs and also is able to determine which drug sellers are reputable. i can only assume this is an extremely small amount of people
        Scoundreller 6mo ago
        I get concerned when a product’s reviews are all: “received and looks good, will update review when I try it” I can only assume they all died.
- ryanmcbride 6mo ago
  Boy have I got news for you about the availability of drugs in modern days
  - bombcar 6mo ago
    The thing is the drugs are known to be drugs. Back then "patent medicine" could be whiskey, could be Dr Pepper, could be cocaine.
    - AberrantJ 6mo ago
      Or Arsenic - it really cures what ails you - you won't be bothered by whatever it was you were complaining about before.
j_french 6mo ago
never knew this was a thing. seems it's still available to buy! sounds like a more respectable version of Buckfast, the tonic wine made in an abbey in Devon that had/has a cult popularity with the youth of parts of Ireland and Scotland
- iamacyborg 6mo ago
  Also popular in rave culture
- glerk 6mo ago
  Did you actually find a place where you can buy this beverage (the official version)? Asking for a friend of course.
  - j_french 6mo ago
    it's listed here, though out of stock (and in Ireland) https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Vin-Mariani-50cl https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Vin-Mariani-50cl Seems an Irish company started remaking it https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/irish-drinks-firm-babco-breathes-life-into-banned-wine-which-spurred-creation-of-coca-cola/35300050.html https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/irish-drinks-firm-...
- nephihaha 6mo ago
  "Buckie" was supposed to be "auntie's pick me up". It is still a minor political issue in Scotland whenever some hack politician wants to make a name for themselves.
colechristensen 6mo ago
And John Pemberton produced a clone of Vin Mariani but when alcohol prohibition was passed in Atlanta he produced a non-acoholic version... coca-cola.
bombcar 6mo ago
But can you consecrate the cocaine wine‽
- jasomill 6mo ago
  Vinum debet esse naturale de genimine vitis et non corruptum. [1] IANACL, but I don't see why infusing wine with coca leaves to produce cocaine would be considered any less natural than infusing grape juice with yeast to produce alcohol, and the official Vatican English translation of "corruptum" here is "spoiled", so…maybe? [1] Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 924 § 3
nico 6mo ago
This reminded me of Pisco Punch, one of the most popular drinks in San Francisco around the times of the gold rush Mark Twain wrote about it and apparently really enjoyed the drink. The drink was made with Pisco, pineapple juice and cocaine
Aurornis 6mo ago
> and contained 6mg per liquid ounce of the wine; except for the bottles sold in USA where it was 7.2mg per ounce Oral bioavailability is lower (around 1/2 to 1/3 if I recall correctly) than nasal use. It also gets spread out over a much longer time because it's absorbed more slowly, which results in lower peak concentrations. So between the low dose, lower oral bioavailability, slow onset, and lower peak blood concentrations the effects would not have been similar to what we imagine when we think of cocaine users today. Drugs like this can have very different effects depending on the dose and route of administration. I'm not suggesting that it was a good idea to put this into drinks, but I don't want people getting the wrong idea that anyone drinking this wine in the past was getting the same effects as someone doing a line of cocaine. In some countries you can get coca leaf tea (mate de coca) which is made from coca leaves and contains small amounts of cocaine, not far from the doses used in this old wine. A lot of tourists are disappointed to discover that it's only mildly stimulating if they feel anything at all, not the intense drug rush associated with taking larger concentrated doses nasally.

sekh60 6mo ago

While I love the Internet and all sorts of modern life fixtures (in a developed country), I feel a bit like I missed out by not being alive when all the crazy drinks were around.

chuckadams 6mo ago
Probably best to have missed out on radium water.
- alcasa 6mo ago
  You can still get your Radium Spa treatment in the Czech Republic: https://www.axxoshotels.com/radium-palace-spa https://www.axxoshotels.com/radium-palace-spa
Gud 6mo ago
Cocaine is still readily available. Pour yourself a nice glass of wine with some coke on the side?
- lotsofpulp 6mo ago
  Unadulterated cocaine is not readily available to 99% of people. Who wants to risk getting some fentanyl or whatever else as a layperson wanting to try it?
  - celticninja 6mo ago
    But from reputable sources
    - sincerely 6mo ago
      This comment seems addressed to the portion of the population that both doesn’t know how to safely buy illegal drugs and also is able to determine which drug sellers are reputable. i can only assume this is an extremely small amount of people
      - Scoundreller 6mo ago
        I get concerned when a product’s reviews are all: “received and looks good, will update review when I try it” I can only assume they all died.
ryanmcbride 6mo ago
Boy have I got news for you about the availability of drugs in modern days
- bombcar 6mo ago
  The thing is the drugs are known to be drugs. Back then "patent medicine" could be whiskey, could be Dr Pepper, could be cocaine.
  - AberrantJ 6mo ago
    Or Arsenic - it really cures what ails you - you won't be bothered by whatever it was you were complaining about before.

j_french 6mo ago

never knew this was a thing. seems it's still available to buy! sounds like a more respectable version of Buckfast, the tonic wine made in an abbey in Devon that had/has a cult popularity with the youth of parts of Ireland and Scotland

iamacyborg 6mo ago
Also popular in rave culture
glerk 6mo ago
Did you actually find a place where you can buy this beverage (the official version)? Asking for a friend of course.
- j_french 6mo ago
  it's listed here, though out of stock (and in Ireland) https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Vin-Mariani-50cl https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Vin-Mariani-50cl Seems an Irish company started remaking it https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/irish-drinks-firm-babco-breathes-life-into-banned-wine-which-spurred-creation-of-coca-cola/35300050.html https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/irish-drinks-firm-...
nephihaha 6mo ago
"Buckie" was supposed to be "auntie's pick me up". It is still a minor political issue in Scotland whenever some hack politician wants to make a name for themselves.

colechristensen 6mo ago

And John Pemberton produced a clone of Vin Mariani but when alcohol prohibition was passed in Atlanta he produced a non-acoholic version... coca-cola.

bombcar 6mo ago

But can you consecrate the cocaine wine‽

jasomill 6mo ago
Vinum debet esse naturale de genimine vitis et non corruptum. [1] IANACL, but I don't see why infusing wine with coca leaves to produce cocaine would be considered any less natural than infusing grape juice with yeast to produce alcohol, and the official Vatican English translation of "corruptum" here is "spoiled", so…maybe? [1] Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 924 § 3

nico 6mo ago

This reminded me of Pisco Punch, one of the most popular drinks in San Francisco around the times of the gold rush Mark Twain wrote about it and apparently really enjoyed the drink. The drink was made with Pisco, pineapple juice and cocaine

Aurornis 6mo ago

> and contained 6mg per liquid ounce of the wine; except for the bottles sold in USA where it was 7.2mg per ounce Oral bioavailability is lower (around 1/2 to 1/3 if I recall correctly) than nasal use. It also gets spread out over a much longer time because it's absorbed more slowly, which results in lower peak concentrations. So between the low dose, lower oral bioavailability, slow onset, and lower peak blood concentrations the effects would not have been similar to what we imagine when we think of cocaine users today. Drugs like this can have very different effects depending on the dose and route of administration. I'm not suggesting that it was a good idea to put this into drinks, but I don't want people getting the wrong idea that anyone drinking this wine in the past was getting the same effects as someone doing a line of cocaine. In some countries you can get coca leaf tea (mate de coca) which is made from coca leaves and contains small amounts of cocaine, not far from the doses used in this old wine. A lot of tourists are disappointed to discover that it's only mildly stimulating if they feel anything at all, not the intense drug rush associated with taking larger concentrated doses nasally.