What is Palm Wine?
Palm wine is a unique type of alcoholic beverage extracted from the sap of specific palm trees. While Akos is a novel creation, the beverage that it draws inspiration from—palm wine—has been enjoyed for thousands of years.
Palm Wine: The Drink that Connects the Globe
Palm wine is widely consumed in equatorial regions around the globe, cherished by local communities who craft and appreciate it in similar ways, regardless of their specific country or village. The genesis of Akos is rooted in witnessing farmers in rural Tanzania collecting palm sap and allowing it to ferment with naturally occurring airborne yeasts.
These farmers produce their palm wine by ascending a Palmyra palm tree—akin to a New England maple syrup harvester—and tapping it. The sap is funneled into a bamboo shoot as it oozes from the tree. This collection process is the most challenging aspect of making palm wine; once the sap is gathered, nature swiftly steps in. The wild yeasts in the air ferment the sap, achieving a modest alcohol content comparable to beer within roughly 12 hours! However, palm wine would quickly deteriorate if not consumed swiftly. As the yeast converts the sap into alcohol, the mixture eventually turns to vinegar without intervention. Akos introduces a touch of science to the ancient craft of palm wine making by halting our palm sap's fermentation precisely at a 6.8% alcohol content.
Sustainable Sourcing of Palm Wine
The palm tapping process is sustainable; it does not harm the palmyra palm, which usually lives for a century whether it's tapped or not. Akos is inherently *sustainable*, much like any traditional palm wine you'd come across anywhere in the world. The palmyra tree, the source of both Akos and palm wine, provides little beyond its sap as a "crop" and thrives only in biodiverse environments; it cannot be mono-cropped. Sadly, many palmyra palms are discarded for lumber each year, their land repurposed by palm oil industries. However, with Akos scaling up palm wine production to a commercial level, there's now a lucrative incentive for farmers to preserve these magnificent trees.
The Color of Palm Wine
Palm wine naturally boasts a vibrant white hue. It was only after producing the world's first commercially available palm wine that we discovered that the contaminants in the humid jungle air contributed to its white appearance! We're delighted that Akos remains a beverage that honors its palm wine heritage while also delivering a consistently smooth and enjoyable product.
