A Little History Lesson

Kentucky has a secret. It's called Ale-8-One. What is Ale-8-One, you ask? Well, it's a soft drink that could be compared to Ginger Ale, but it has its own unique flavor. "Swamp water," my mom calls it. (She doesn't like the taste.) :-) She used to teach in Winchester, and all of the kids' dads worked for Ale-8-One. I'm sure she could have had free Ale-8-One whenever she wanted!

G.L. Wainscott developed Ale-8-One in the 1920's when he was experimenting with ginger-blended recipes. It has been bottled in Winchester, Ky., since 1926, and has been slowly spreading to other areas since then. Now, you can find Ale-8-One in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, though the further you get from Winchester, the harder it is to find--and the more it's fought over when you do find it.

Ale-8-One is Xon's favorite drink, so whenever we go to Lexington, we have to get several cases. And when my parents come down to visit, we secretly hope they will bring a stash of it with them. They always do. :-)

Where did the name "Ale-8-One" come from? Well, Wainscott sponsored one of America's first "name the product" contests, and "A Late One" was the winner. The drink's logo, "Ale-8-One" was adopted as a pun of its description as the latest thing in soft drinks.

In 1974, the company dropped the other soft drinks it was bottling and focused solely on Ale-8-One. Today, the business is still in the family. Wainscott's great-nephew, Frank A. Rogers III, owns and operates the facility, and he recently perfected the recipe for Diet Ale-8-One, which is sweetened with Splenda.

I have never taken a tour of the bottling plant, but I think that's the first thing I'll do next time I go. The company has its own Web site at http://www.ale-8-one.com/. You can purchase Ale-8-One online in bottles or cans (though cans just aren't as good) and have it shipped to you, if you're not fortunate enough to have it distributed in your state. You can also buy shirts, caps and keychains with the company's logo.

I don't know if Ale-8-One is as good as we think it is. Xon can taste different flavors in each bottle. Our friends don't see what the fuss is about. So maybe it is nostalgia that makes us open another bottle. Either way, it's a great Kentucky tradition that I'm proud to be a part of. And I'm glad I get to drink the latest stash from my parents all by myself. :-)