Coca Leaf History | About Agwa | FAQ | Coca Leaf Background | References

Coca Leaf History

The Coca Leaf has a long and varied history dating back thousands of years

Traces of coca have been found in mummies dating 3000 years back. Extensive archeological evidence for the chewing of coca leaves dates back at least to the sixth century A.D. Moche period, and the subsequent Inca period, based on mummies found with a supply of coca leaves, pottery depicting the characteristic cheek bulge of a coca chewer, spatulas for extracting alkali and figured bags for coca leaves and lime made from precious metals, and gold representations of coca in special gardens of the Inca in Cuzco.  As the Incan empire declined, the leaf became more widely available.

From its authentic use by the Bolivian farmers, to its misuse in the production of Cocaine, the Coca Leaf has always attracted controversy. It is as famous for its many virtues as its many vices. AGWA now allows you to legally enjoy the virtues of the Coca Leaf in its many drinks and cocktails

 

1. Coca Leaf Way of Life
Erythroxylum (E) Coca, Huánuco or Bolivian coca is the ORIGINAL ancestral variety. Bolivian coca grows best in the moist tropical forests of the eastern Andes of Peru and Bolivia. This variety is the only one of the four found growing wild. Bolivian coca is the major source of commercially produced coca leaves and cocaine. [Rury and Plowman (1983)].

Coca leaves have been chewed by South American Indians for 4000 years. Anthropologists have speculated that the word coca derives from the pre-Incan Tiwanaku word khoka - meaning "the plant". The Aymara word q'oka means "food for travellers and workers".  The coca leaf was used (and still is) by the Incas, Inca descendants (Quechuans), Tiwanaku, Amyara and other nomadic Andean cultures.

 

2. The Incas and the Coca Leaf
The Incas in particular venerated coca. They used coca in magical ceremonies and initiation rites, and for divination and fertility rituals.

Two of the Inca emperors named their wives after the leaf - the honoured consorts were given the plant's sacred title, Mama Coca. The only object ever carried by the Inca emperor himself was a coca pouch. He wore it around his neck close to his heart.

Francisco Pizarro was the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in 1572, where use of the Coca Leaf was initially banned by the Spanish. But the invaders then discovered that without the Inca "gift of the gods" the natives could barely work the fields, or mine gold, so they began distributing it to the workers during brief rest breaks.  Returning Spanish conquistadors then introduced it to Europe

 

3. Modern History 
It actually was not until 1859 Albert Niemann isolated the alkaloid cocaine. In 1884 Freud wrote about his experience with cocaine in "Uber Coca".

In 1860 Angelo Mariani introduced "Vin Mariani" a fortified wine drink made with Coca leaf. Mariani and other makers of Coca Leaf Liquors made a fortune from the drink with the help of endorsement by notable persons such as Queen Victoria of England, Thomas Edison and Pope Leo the XIII.

In 1886 John Pemberton, of Atlanta, Ga., introduced a tonic called Coca-Cola which contained cocaine. Cocaine was removed from Coca Cola in 1904 however de-cocainised coca leaves are still used. Cocaine & Wines & Liquors made cocaine inside were banned in 1912. The drug cocaine is an extremely dangerous narcotic with significant health hazards.

However the Andean culture and the coca plant have thrived for centuries. It is ironic therefore that this plant that thrived in that culture in its homeland is the source of so much abuse and misunderstanding in many parts of the world.

 

Legend
God said to the Andean people:

"Guard the leaves with much love and when you feel the sting of pain in your heart, hunger in your body and darkness in your mind...take them to your mouth and softly, draw up its spirit which is part of mine" You will find love for your pain food for your body and light for your mind. Furthermore, watch the leaves dance with the wind and you will find answers to your queries.

But if your torturer, who comes from the North, the white conqueror, the gold seeker, should touch it, he will find in it only... poison for his body and madness for his mind for his heart is so callous as his steel and iron garment.

And when the COCA, which is how you will call it, attempts to soften his feelings it will only shatter him as the icy crystals born in the clouds crack the rocks, demolish mountains"

 
4. Agwa Coca Leaf Liqueur today
Today you can legally enjoy the mythical & legendary taste experience of de-cocainised Bolivian Coca in AGWA de Bolivia. The finest handpicked wild Bolivian Coca leaves are shipped to Amsterdam under armed guard where they are first de-cocainised before being infused with alcohol and 36 other natural herbs and botanicals

 

5. Coca Leaf facts
As a medicinal herb, coca has been traditionally used in treating a variety of ailments.

Coca was also used a measurement of distance or the time it took to chew a quid of coca, the equivalent of about forty minutes of two level miles.

Coca-Cola already uses a coca extract in its formula but removed the alkaloid from its winning formula more than 100 years ago, according to Reuters.

Coca Leaf History | About Agwa | FAQ | Coca Leaf Background | References