We Tried Ale-8-1’s New Pawpaw Soda

Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of a pawpaw before. That’s what I thought—barely anyone. There’s no shame in that; I hadn’t heard of it before this soda came across my desk. Speaking of this soda, raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of Ale-8-1 before. (I definitely need to lobby for Ale-8-1’s addition to our ginger ale ranking.) Yes, pawpaw and Ale-8-1 are a perfect fit for each other: two regional favorites with very little exposure outside of their natural regions. Let’s try this “Kentucky Banana” flavored soda and see if it’s appealing. (Does anyone know if pawpaws get peeled like bananas? I’m trying my best out here.)

What is a pawpaw?

The pawpaw is a funny little tree native to most of the eastern United States; the fruit it produces (also called pawpaw) is not only edible but yummy! The flavor is tropical—similar to banana or pineapple. Entire festivals are dedicated to the pawpaw in states like Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky. Ale-8-1 worked with Kentucky State University’s full-time pawpaw research program to create this soda, which may be the first pawpaw-flavored soda to ever see a wide release.

New Ale-8-1 Flavor!

Pawpaw Ale-8-1

Sam’s Club

Pros: This is definitely tropical. The smoothness of Ale-8-1 is complemented perfectly by what could easily be labeled as banana-pineapple for the widely pawpaw-blind audience. This has me desperate to try a raw pawpaw for myself (even if they’re apparently chock full of a straight-up neurotoxin). This would also make an amazing float with some good vanilla ice cream—maybe I can use some of that leftover Jeni’s ice cream to try it…

Cons: The sweetness of this flavor is strong, to the point that I struggled to get through one 12oz bottle. And do you know how hard it was to get a hold of these? This soda saw a very limited release around Kentucky. I had the bat-signal shining on this for a month before a friend was able to secure me a 4-pack. This isn’t my least favorite Ale-8-1 variant, but it isn’t topping the list either—though it certainly gets points for uniqueness.

Credit: Liv Averett / Sam’s Club

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks