Crooked Owl Launches Reformulated Hard Tepache

Crooked Owl excitedly announces the launch of their reformulated Hard Tepache, which is debuting this fall. They are previewing the new formulation at this year’s Great American Beer Festival being held from October 10-12, 2024 in Denver, Colorado before it becomes available at retailers in California, New York, and Georgia shortly after. 

The new formulation replaces erythritol as the post-fermentation sweetener with all natural fruit juices and reduces the use of natural flavor extracts in favor of steeping with spices. This reformulated recipe will apply to all three of their existing flavors – Pasión (passion fruit and hibiscus), Piña (cinnamon and ginger), and Jalapiña (mango, jalapeño, and habañero) – as well as future flavor expressions that are currently in development and are expected to launch Spring 2025. 

This new formulation reflects Crooked Owl’s commitment to delivering the best tasting Hard Tepache available to consumers. Dave Bailey, cofounder and CEO of Crooked Owl, expresses of this release, “We’re incredibly proud of the product we’ve had in market since our launch in 2022, but we are even more proud of this latest recipe. Our consumers define value based on a combination of factors and flavor is consistently number one. We are confident that this reformulation delivers on flavor unlike any other beyond beer beverage on market today.” 

By making this formulation change, the Crooked Owl team is able to offer a more natural product, something that has become increasingly important to consumers throughout the industry. This reformulated recipe maintains the low calorie, low sugar, gluten free attributes Crooked Owl’s Hard Tepache has become known for while eliminating and reducing less desirable flavor enhancing ingredients. Cam Bailey, cofounder and Chief Brand Officer of Crooked Owl, says “What’s so great about this shift is that we’re able make these subtle changes and actually improve the flavor our liquor, rather than compromise on the core promise we make to ourselves and our customers, which is to offer the best tasting Hard Tepache possible.” David Bailey adds, “We’re elevating the aroma and taste of our Hard Tepache and paving the way for future flavor innovation in a way that’s really special. We’ve worked on this for a long time and can’t wait for people to taste this new release.” 

Crooked Owl Hard Tepache is craft brewed in the spirit of tradition with organic pineapple, cane and piloncillo sugars, water, and their proprietary tepache culture. With this change in formulation, each flavor expression is steeped with spices including dried hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, and jalapeño chilies and sweetened with fruit juice. Crooked Owl is currently distributed in California in partnership with Stone Distributing, in Georgia with Savannah Distributing, and in New York with Torch Distribution. They have plans to expand their physical footprint to Arizona, Colorado, and Texas in the next 18 months.