Many of us are working towards supporting black-owned businesses and I really want to bring a spotlight on food and beverage brands I love on FoodieZoolee. Today we are speaking with Choya and Ni’Kesia, co-founders of Peach State Drinks.
Peach State Drinks
Established in 2019, Peach State Drinks creates quality, gourmet beverages, and using ingredients that keep with their belief – simple is better. We got together virtually and I got to know more about their brand.
If you could only eat one food/meal for the rest of your life what would it be? I know, I know it sounds super generic – but at FoodieZoolee we like to know!
Choya: Probably seafood.
Ni’Kesia: I honestly don’t know. I like a lot of things. I really like bread, but know I can’t survive off of that alone for the rest of my life. So, yeah. I’m not sure lol
What inspired you to start Peach State Drinks?
Choya: For me, it was the inconsistency with lemonade everywhere we went. Specifically though, I got tired of Chick-fil-A’s inconsistency.
Ni’Kesia: I can definitely agree with that. I honestly felt though that God was leading me to do something different than just being a journalist. I realized that if I were to leave this world tomorrow, I had nothing that I would feel good about leaving behind. A few great bylines, yes, but those are not things I fully created on my own. And, I believe that God put me here to create. So, when I brought the idea to Choya, I think his feelings about the things we discussed in reference to inconsistency definitely were a part of the reason he was on board with launching the business.
How do you decide what flavors to develop and what is your favorite?
Choya: We have one that we haven’t released yet, but it’s my favorite. Muscadine. Muscadines are a Georgia staple and the lemon-aid taste amazing.
Ni’Kesia: You know, I’m so back and forth. I love Peach during the summer, but then when fall hits, I’m in love with the Apple Cranberry. I also feel like this question is like asking a parent which child is their favorite. It’s so hard lol As far as development, we try out things that we would like to have at its best. If we can’t get it to have a “whew!” factor upon first sip, we don’t go with it.
What has been most surprising since owning and operating your beverage company?
Choya: For me, it has definitely been the unaccounted-for expenses and the monkey wrenches that always get thrown in your plans. They’re so inconvenient, but they also teach you a lot after you come out of them.
Ni’Kesia: Absolutely that. I would also say the amount of support that we get from the most unexpected places, too. I get so thrilled when someone tastes our juice and takes time out of their day to let us know — whether through personal message or social media — how much they love it. That, to me, means the world and I couldn’t be more thankful for it.
How did it feel when Peach State Drinks hit its first store/shop shelf?
Choya: It was a great feeling. I’m a little different than Ni’Kesia. I don’t express my excitement the same way she does. So, I know sometimes it may seem like I’m not as happy about things on the surface, but I really do feel it. But once I hit the one goal that I set, it’s like ‘OK, what’s next?’ and that’s how I felt after we stocked our first shelf.
Ni’Kesia: It was a full-circle moment. I felt blessed and ready to see what else we could do. But since there was so much going on when it happened, I also felt a little sad. We got into our first store right after the protests and riots happened here in Atlanta as a result of Rayshard Brooks’ death. So, in the midst of being Black and dealing with all of the traumatic events happening worldwide at the time — the George Floyd killing had just happened, too — it felt so weird trying to celebrate something.
“You have to taste it to understand.”
What do you think other people should know about PSD?
Ni’Kesia: How good it is. Having a Peach State Drinks Brown Sugar Lemon-Aid is truly an experience. It’s not something that you can just talk about. You have to taste it to understand.
What can we look forward to with Peach State Drinks during the upcoming holiday season?
Ni’Kesia: Well, we’ll be bringing back our fall/winter collection which consists of our Apple Cranberry and Spiced Apple flavors. We’ll also be dropping some pretty cool merch and running a few contests, so please be on the lookout for all of that. Our hope, however, is to become more prevalent in households outside of the Atlanta area and truly become the discussion piece around everyone’s dinner table.
About the co-founders of Peach State Drinks
Choya Johnson is the co-founder and CEO of Peach State Drinks. As a former tech connoisseur, this Atlanta-native traded in his corporate America badge for a chance to build his own empire. Now a full-time entrepreneur and multi-faceted businessman, Johnson’s focus is on growing Peach State Drinks into one of the state’s most known beverage companies. A wanderlust at heart and southern-style chef in the kitchen, his first foray into the beverage industry with Peach State Drinks is his palatable way of proving that the south still has somethin’ to say.
Ni’Kesia Pannell is the co-founder and CEO of Peach State Drinks. Perhaps best known for her award-winning journalism efforts, this millennial entrepreneur has spent many of her previous years interviewing and writing about celebrities, introducing health and beauty lovers to new hacks and products, penning articles about her travels and epicures and serving as an on-air lifestyle expert on many occasions. Now taking the reigns of her own beverage business, Pannell has the ambition to make the nation’s love for Peach State Drinks run as deep as her southern roots.
I want to thank Choya and Ni’Kesia for taking the time to speak to me about their delicious beverages!
You can shop their Original Brown Sugar Lemon-Aid and other seasonal flavors year-round at PeachStateDrinks.com.
You can also follow Peach State Drinks on social media – they’re on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Which flavor of lemonade would you love to try?
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