For those thirsting for nostalgia, World of Coca-Cola is the Real Thing. Tasting stations offer samples of beverages from around the globe.
What’s more American than baseball, hot dogs and apple pie? It could be an ice-cold Coca-Cola.
One of the most famous brands on the planet takes center stage at World of Coca-Cola, a top tourist attraction in Atlanta, Georgia, the city where the ubiquitous beverage was invented in 1886 and where the multinational company is headquartered today.
World of Coca-Cola is located in the heart of downtown Atlanta. (Photo credit: Atlanta CVB)
A collector of Coke and other soft drink memorabilia, I made a beeline to the shrine soon after my arrival in downtown Atlanta. My kitchen is decorated with Coca-Cola metal signs, not to mention magnets, salt and pepper shakers, a clock, and various bric-a-brac bearing the red-and-white logo recognized around the globe. Out on the deck, potted plants fill vintage wooden Coke crates purchased at antiques stores.
People recently asked me about my passion for Coca-Cola. I told them it’s a feel-good that makes me happy and nostalgic. When I travel to foreign countries, the familiar sight of a red Coca-Cola sign lends a sense of comfort, a touch of home.
World of Coca-Cola Immerses Guests in the Brand
Emotional connections between the fizzy drink and its fans are dramatized in a six-minute introductory film in World of Coca-Cola’s theater. Showing how Coke is there for joyous moments in life, scenes depict memorable events like a family’s surprise party for their parents’ anniversary, a soldier returning from the Middle East and a marriage proposal in a hot air balloon. Some audience members exit the theater misty-eyed. In one of the six exhibit areas, museum-goers are encouraged to tell their own story about Coke.
Touring the World of Coca-Cola, visitors learn that Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton, like an alchemist of old, used a long wooden paddle to mix the first batches of Coca-Cola syrup in a cast-iron kettle over an open flame. He delivered it to friends at Jacobs Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta, where it was mixed with carbonated water and served for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. Pemberton’s partner, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name Coca-Cola as the syrup contained extracts of the Peruvian coca leaf and African kola nut. Jacobs Pharmacy closed in 1960 and was demolished later in the decade to make way for a bank and office building.
Asa Griggs Candler began buying shares of Coca-Cola in 1888 and three years later was sole owner of the secret formula and all rights that went with it. In a gallery called The Vault, one learns how the formula has been carefully guarded over the years. (Candler was elected mayor of Atlanta in 1916.)
TAB was a diet standby for the Coca-Cola family of brands. (Randy Mink Photo)
Another story from The Vault spotlights the diet cola TAB, which had many fans. First offered in 1963, it was retired in 2020.
A new experience called Coca-Cola Stories immerses guests in the brand’s rich history through AI magic, interactive displays and hundreds of artifacts in historically inspired environments. Photo opportunities let them pose in a vintage Coca‑Cola ad and with a 1939 delivery truck.
Coca-Cola Icons: Curvaceous Bottles, Santa Claus and Polar Bears
The Icons gallery sheds light on the origins of the green-tinted contoured Coca-Cola bottle, the brand’s red disc found on storefronts around the world, and the graceful, sweeping lines and elaborate flourishes of script spelling out the product’s name.
Guests can have their picture taken with the Coca-Cola polar bear. (Randy Mink Photo)
The iconic Coca-Cola polar bears made their TV debut in 1993, but they were first seen in France in 1922 and over the years in print advertising. Guests can cuddle with a seven-foot-tall bear mascot that poses for pictures.
Coca-Cola also is known for its yuletide ads starring Santa Claus. In fact, the Santa Claus we know today—a plump jolly man with a white beard and red suit—was created for 1931 Christmas advertisements by Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom. Santa didn’t always look that way.
Festive Sampling at World of Coca-Cola
Most fun is Taste It!, a room full of multiple tasting stations offering unlimited sampling of 100+ beverages from around the world, many of them quite exotic.
How about a sip of cucumber-flavored Sprite from Romania or Melon Frosty Fanta from Thailand? Fanta, with many flavors in 180 countries, is the company’s second-largest brand outside the U.S.
Exotic beverage flavors from around the world can be sampled at World of Coca-Cola. (Photo credit: Atlanta CVB)
Wandering across a sticky floor from station to station, I tried non-alcoholic Stoney Ginger Beer from Tanzania and Minute Maid Joy Apple Lychee, a favorite in Korea. Sparletta Sparberry, sold in southern and central Africa since 1955, tastes like raspberry cream soda.
A touchscreen provides a little background on each flavor. For example, I learned that Peru’s golden yellow Inca Kola is used by gourmet chefs in signature Peruvian dishes; many compare its sweet, fruity taste to bubblegum.
The gift shop has everything Coca-Cola, from pajamas and boxer shorts to Christmas ornaments and kitchen towels. For $8.95 you can customize a Coke can with your name or a message.
Bordering Centennial Olympic Park in the heart of downtown Atlanta, World of Coca-Cola is next door to the Georgia Aquarium and National Center for Civil and Human Rights (closed for renovations until November 2025). Admission is $17 for adults, $13 for ages 3-12.
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By Randy Mink, Senior Editor
Lead photo courtesy of Atlanta CVB
