Kola is a `food-drug', a substance considered neither food nor medicine, but - like coffee, tea, coca and tobacco - is used to induce `flights of fancy'. It is incorporated into rites of passage, and ceremonies to cement treaties and contracts; its medicinal properties were first recognised outside Africa in the twelfth century; and it is a legal and popular stimulant among West African Muslims. This study, in addition to bringing together the legends and lore, social, religious, medicinal and economic importance of kola nuts, also delineates the place of kola in the political economy of Asante and the Gold Coast. In particular it looks at kola's contribution to the economic initiatives of the Hausa diaspora in the region.