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Creating a new market for coca
by Alejandro Pintamalli*
07-05-2009
From Bolivia to Amsterdam

A drink made from coca leaves is being sold in the Netherlands' capital Amsterdam. The coca leaves come from Bolivia, though the cocaine alkaloid is removed in the Netherlands. The drink's creators want to eliminate the preconceptions of the coca plant while creating a new market for the product.

It is not the first product to be made from coca. Coca-Cola has been importing coca leaves from Peru since the end of the 19th century. With the coca leaf liqueur ‘Agwa de Bolivia', the 'Coco Leaf Experience' company is trying to improve the negative image the coca leaf has in countries beyond the Andes. It's not surprising that a photograph of Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, hangs on the wall of the Amsterdam shop where the liqueur is sold.

At a UN drugs conference last year in Vienna, Mr Morales called for the plant to be removed from the UN's list of illegal drugs saying, "The coca leaf is not cocaine".

"We are unique in the world" says owner of the 'Coco Leaf Experience' Tommy Burke. "We want to let people see the positive side of the coca leaf, because there is a big difference between the coca leaf and cocaine".

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holy shit i got that stuff here in chicago last summer.

tastes strange, like evil koolaid. at the L&L tavern they'll even give you the shot with a little vial of lime extract to lick off your hand instead of salt. very fun. (the l&l is one of the best bars in the city, for any potential tourists)

they say it gives you a different kinda drunk because of the coca leaves. but since the bottle was 30 bucks, we only ever broke it out for rounds of shots for friends, never got drunk off just the Agwa as i never had more than 2 shots at a time.

Next time i have 30 bucks to blow on a bottle, i think i'll grab another bottle and see what it's like to get forked off of.

Curious to know what it tastes like, but not more than that. It's a plant. NYCD is a plant. Beats me how plants can be made illegal. (actually, not sure if groling coca is illegal).

I'll start a thread on how christian based societies outlaw plants, when the bible says all plants are for our use...

Sitting in a wine bar, 1 sambuca, 1 guiness, the start of a messy night...

I've had coca tea in Peru, both in pre-made teabags and made from leaves bought in the market place. I find the taste of both pretty disgusting.

I met a couple of travelling aussies who taught me how to brew up super-strength tea with bags of leaves, and then dilute with Thunderbird fortified wine. Not quite as disgusting, and by the time the wine hits your stomach your throat is numb, so you can't taste how horrible it is anyway.

Coca-cola is apparantly made with Truijillo, the king of coca, which the Incas prized most highly. Not only is it the strongest breed, it has the most unique taste. They have a worldwide monopoly on it these days. Always wondered what they do with the cocaine they extract - I don't believe for a second it all gets binned.