OpenCola (drink)
OpenCola is a brand of open-source cola. This means anyone can find its recipe and change it in any way.[1]
 | |
| Type | Cola |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 2001 |
| Related products | Free Beer |
| Website | https://www.opencola.io/ |
History
The company that created it, which had the same name, was started in Toronto, Canada in 1999 by Grad Conn, Cory Doctorow and John Henson.[2]
OpenCola was first released on January 27, 2001. The newest version of OpenCola is 1.1.3.[3]
It was created to explain free and open source software and promote the company's P2P program of the same name. However, the drink became more well known and 150,000 cans of it were sold.[3] Laird Brown, the company's senior strategist, said it was successful because many people did not trust big corporations and "almost everything" was proprietary.[4]
Formula
Flavouring
Concentrate
- 2.36 kg plain granulated white table sugar
- 2.28 L water
- 30.0 mL caramel color
- 17.5 mL (3.50 tsp.) 75% phosphoric acid or citric acid
- 10.0 mL (2.00 tsp.) flavouring formula
- 2.5 mL (0.50 tsp.) caffeine (optional)[5][6]
Dilution
The syrup is diluted 5:1 with soda water, preferably sodium-free. This makes about 24 litres of OpenCola.
The full recipe also includes instructions to make soda water using basic ingredients such as yeast and sugar. This avoids the need for a commercially made carbonator.[5][6]
References
- ↑ Paul Heltzel (9 April 2001). "OpenCola-Have Some Code and a Smile". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
A software company that happens to produce a soda, OpenCola uses peer-to-peer searching to find information on the Web. Its soft drink, OpenCola, helps to promote the company.
- ↑ "Opencola". Crunchbase. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Malyn (18 February 2007). "OpenCola - Open Source Coca Cola". Digital Journal. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
The soft drink was originally intended to be a promotional tool to help explain open source software but since its launch it's taken on a life of its own. The company that launched it has become more well known for the drink than the software they offer... the website selling the drink has sold over 150,000 cans!
- ↑ Ian Steadman (13 April 2013). "Open source cola and the 'Napster moment' for the food business". Wired. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
It's called Open Cola, a product first produced by now-defunct Toronto software company Opencola as something of a joke. Taking inspiration from Richard Stallman's famous dictum that free software was "free as in speech, not as in beer", it was meant as a kind of promotional tool. The recipe was published online for anyone to take and adapt. Version 1.0 was published on 27 January 2001 -- the latest version is 1.1.3. Opencola closed in 2003, but Open Cola's recipe is still around.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "OpenCola.com - Soft Drink Formula - Internet Archive". 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-02-18. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Amanda Foubister (2001). "OpenCola Soft Drink Recipe" (PDF). OpenCola.com. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
Other websites
- OpenCola soft drink
- Cube-Cola, Bristol, UK
- How to Make OpenCola - WikiHow
- The recipe from Wiki-How, condensed into a single, easily printable page
- OpenSoda.org Archived 2009-06-01 at the Wayback Machine, a defunct continuation of the OpenCola work for recipe and methodology
- OpenCola on GitHub