Welcome to the Jungle: Jungle Juice hard punch puts 2 Kent State alumni on the boozy map

Tawney Beans, Akron Beacon Journal
·4 min read
Two Kent State University alumni have created Jungle Juice, a non-carbonated hard punch with 6% ABV.
Two Kent State University alumni have created Jungle Juice, a non-carbonated hard punch with 6% ABV.

By most definitions, jungle juice is a is an improvised mix of liquor, fresh fruit and fruit juice that is usually served for group consumption at college parties.

As you can imagine, it’s not exactly known for being a particularly refined, or regulated, beverage.

Two Kent State University alumni are flipping those expectations with their new canned creation: an alcoholic, non-carbonated fruit punch that shares the name Jungle Juice.

Jungle Juice launches at Kent State homecoming

Founders Spencer Forrest and Marius Karl launched Jungle Juice at Kent State’s 2023 Homecoming weekend. They sold out of 960 cans in two hours.

Kent State alumni Marius Karl (left) and Spencer Forrest founded Jungle Juice, an alcoholic, non-carbonated fruit punch, in spring of 2021.
Kent State alumni Marius Karl (left) and Spencer Forrest founded Jungle Juice, an alcoholic, non-carbonated fruit punch, in spring of 2021.

“We were going for that sense of familiarity for most, and for those that are a little bit older in age, a little sense of nostalgia from their younger years,” Spencer explained.

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Believe it or not, Jungle Juice is vegan, gluten-free and made with natural ingredients and real fruit. It’s angry red color even comes from a red carrot in Turkey as opposed to Red 40.

“It is about as healthy as you can make poison be that’s not just water, alcohol and some carbonation in a can,” Forrest said.

Kent students become Jungle Juicers

Forrest and Karl went through college at the boom of the hard seltzer craze, when everyone progressed from beer to White Claws to Trulys to High Noons. The pair noticed that some common complaints from their friends included bloating and the drinks' unappetizing flavors.

Spencer Forrest, co-founder of Jungle Juice, shows off the non-carbonated alcoholic beverage.
Spencer Forrest, co-founder of Jungle Juice, shows off the non-carbonated alcoholic beverage.

It wasn’t until Easter 2021 that things came into focus for the two entrepreneurs. Pittsburgh native Forrest had graduated four months prior, and Karl, an international student from Austria, was a less than three months away from walking across the stage and moving back to Europe.

Forrest invited Karl to his family’s holiday gathering and the two started talking shop. That night they explored available trademarks and saw that Jungle Juice was up for grabs. Right then, they decided to use the name and build a brand around it.

The next day, they registered the company and started looking online for places that could help turn their idea into a reality.

Eventually, they came across a production company in Cincinnati that guided them through the initial steps of that process. It also connected them with industry members for flavoring and coloring while doing the production and canning in-house.

Jungle Juice hard punch.
Jungle Juice hard punch.

“In the beginning, when you’re not familiar with the industry at all, it’s definitely difficult to figure out where to start,” Karl said. “You look online, and you will find millions of hits on whatever you're looking for but picking out the right ones can be very difficult. Especially if you're just a new brand starting out without a big company behind you or any credibility to your name, then it's very difficult to be seen as a serious inquirer by those people that you reach out to.”

Karl and Forrest's degrees in business management and fashion merchandising, respectively, also helped them start and maintain the business.

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“I do use more of what I learned than I thought I would, from marketing and branding and merchandising and store placements,” Forrest said. “All that type of stuff that I never thought would be applicable are very applicable.”

Where to buy Jungle Juice

Now, Jungle Juice is being sold by 65 retailers across Northeast Ohio, including select Acme Fresh Market, Giant Eagle and Sunoco locations. Customers can find a nearby retailer selling the beverage using the brand’s online juice finder.

The drink is only sold in 12 packs and retails for $19.99.

Since its inception, the fruit-flavored beverage has been produced in Cincinnati but because the company they utilize is rapidly scaling, it will soon be produced in Toledo. The production company’s growing number of locations should help the brand expand into locations near Ohio State University and Ohio University, which they hope to do in the first quarter of 2024.

Spencer Forrest, co-founder of Jungle Juice hard punch, in Kent on Nov. 16.
Spencer Forrest, co-founder of Jungle Juice hard punch, in Kent on Nov. 16.

Also on the pair’s to-do list stores near Ashland, John Carroll University, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University.

Got a story recommendation? Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at tbeans@gannett.com and on Twitter @TawneyBeans. And follow her adventures on TikTok @akronbeaconjournal.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jungle Juice, anyone? Kent State alumni found hard punch business