CHAPTER 32
Vino Kolafra

What do Johnson & Johnson and the Coca-Cola Company have in common? For starters, they were both founded in 1886. But there’s also something else you might not know: for a short while, in the late 1800s, Johnson & Johnson made a cola drink.
In an earlier post, I mentioned some of the lesser-known and more unusual products made by Johnson & Johnson in its earliest days. One of my favorites is Vino Kolafra, which was a tonic preparation made from cola nut extract in a sherry wine base. It was made by a small subsidiary, the Brunswick Pharmacal Com