Pawpaw Ale-8 was produced in collaboration with Kentucky State University, who has the only full time pawpaw research program in the world.
Daphne Phipps is Ale-8-One’s director of product excellence. She says she the first time she tried a pawpaw, she was brainstorming flavor ideas at Kentucky State’s research farm.
“They pulled this green potato off a tree and gave it to me, and I didn’t know what to expect,” recounted Phipps. “I broke it open right then and tasted it and fell in love. From that moment, I knew Ale-8 was going to make a pawpaw.”
Phipps says the company went through 49 formulations before finding a flavor reminiscent of the pawpaw variety she had tried - a KSU-Chappell, the first cultivar produced by Kentucky State’s program. Though the beverage contains no actual pawpaw, the taste profile of both the drink and the fruit are similar - notes of mango and banana with pineapple overtones.
Kentucky is right in the middle of the pawpaw tree’s native range of the eastern United States. Though trees often produce through the whole month of September, individual fruits are only ripe for a few days - meaning if it’s not at the farmers market or in a backyard tree, the average Kentuckian may find it elusive.
But Dr. Kirk Pomper, a professor of horticulture at KSU, says the school’s pawpaw program is successfully finding ways to bring people a taste.
“It does process fairly well and makes really good value-added products,” he said. “I think that’s where we’re finding folks are discovering this, now. So, pawpaw ice cream, pawpaw brandy, pawpaw beer, and now pawpaw Ale-8 flavor.”
KSU’s pawpaw research program began in 2003. Now, there are over 1500 pawpaw trees on the Harold R. Benson Research and Demonstration Farm, which is where KSU will be hosting the Fifth International Pawpaw Conference from September 9th-11th.
Ale-8’s new pawpaw flavored soda is available as a limited-edition glass-bottle four-pack both online and in stores.